The Courage to say Yes to God
Ps Geoff Wiklund
Welcome Back. Now we are going to look at the courage to say yes to God. Always when we say yes to God it requires faith. It was interesting as I was driving down to do this recording a song came up on my iPad that was talking about saying yes to God and how it always brings trials and how difficult it can be that we seem to have to work through these things but it always leads to a better place. So understand that when you say yes to God it is going to require faith.
Secondly, it can be scary. I have said to God, yes, so many times and then I am so scared as a result of it. People look at you and say Oh Geoff you’re a confident person but you know inside you still think ‘Oh God what have I let myself in for here’. But here’s the real kicker for us, it always results in blessing. Every time I say yes to God I’m blessed, just in so many ways. I’m not just talking financially. I’m talking about that wonderful feeling that comes when God does something and you’re just a small part by saying yes. How good does that feel? And there are so many blessings. Of relationships, ah the blessings go on and on. Here’s the real amazing thing, every time you say yes to God He gives you the grace, that is the empowering, to actually do what He’s asked you to do. So when He says I want you to this and you say yes, He then gives you the ability and the empowering to make sure that you are able do it. We just need to believe.
Our problem is that we find excuses. A rude guy wrote to me from an African nation the other day because he was inviting me to come, I think all he really wants is my money and when I said ‘well I can’t travel at the moment and I’ve got a lot of other thing that I’m doing’ he said ‘Oh you’re too full of excuses I said ‘oh yeah, okay. Well I’m not the first one, Moses had the same problem.’ Moses said to God, ‘who am I that I should go?’ How many of you listening to this today kind of feel like ‘Well, who am I?’ I think we all feel like that don’t we? I mean, I know I do. Who am I? The reality is we are God’s children. And it doesn’t matter who we are, with God on our side and the Holy Spirit working through us it doesn’t really matter. Because God can do stuff through a donkey.
God says; What is his name? What should I say to them? This is Moses excuse; I’m not quite sure what I’m going to say to them. Well I tell you something, God will always give you what to say. And then he says ‘Suppose they will not believe or listen to my voice. Suppose they say the Lord has not appeared to you? You know, its always a bit of a problem when God gives you a word or something and you think what if people don’t believe. Hey it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t really matter what people think or what they believe. All our responsibility is, is to deliver what Gods given us. Then it’s up to them what they do with it, it’s not your responsibility. Your responsibility is to say yes to God I’m going to do it.
Moses says ‘Lord I’m not eloquent enough’. Ah and you know I’m slow of speech and slow of tongue. I remember a situation when I was in Bible College we were invited to speak in a church. There was a team of five of us and we divided up all the responsibilities. One was going to lead worship, one had a testimony, I was preaching on the Sunday and there was another guy who was going to speak on the Saturday night. And I felt really, really uneasy about it because he stuttered and could hardly finish a sentence, it was so slow.
But he insisted on it and he got up and he gave this slow stuttering message on Saturday night and I thought you know what; I shouldn’t have let him do it. I just felt for him. And then he took an alter call and I thought oh who is possibly going to respond to this? You know what? 75% of those youth went forward on the altar and suddenly I realised it wasn’t his ability to present it was the Holy Spirit speaking through a faltering voice that people heard. And they over looked his stuttered because of what God was saying through him. And that night God gave me a wonderful lesson. It doesn’t matter what it sounds like, it’s the spirit behind there. I guess that was a bit of a beginning for me for working with people with disabilities. To understand as you all know. We’ve seen people in our camps get up and they’ve had to communicate through a communicator or they’ve had to use sign language but we’ve seen God’s spirit on it and we’ve seen something. So the fact that we are not eloquent doesn’t really matter because God is still able to use us.
Then Moses says, look why don’t you send someone else? How many of you have felt like that? I’ll let someone else prophecy, I’ll let somebody else do it but Gods speaking to you. We have to say yes to God and be available to do it. Here’s a great example, Jesus is walking by the sea and he sees these guys working with their nets fishing and he says follow me. The Bible says immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Then he comes to a couple more by their boat and He says follow me again and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed Him.
I think God is looking for instant obedience. He’s looking for you and I to simply say yes and say yes straight away. I don’t think he’s really asking you and I to say ‘I’ll fast and pray about it Lord then I’ll get back to you’. I think God’s really saying; why don’t we just say yes and get on and do it? Saying yes to God normally means putting aside what we are doing and doing what He is doing. I want to say to you that sometimes that is inconvenient, because I’ve got my plans, I want to do this and God wants to have the impertinence to interrupt my day and get me doing something different. Until we come to the conclusion of course that actually Gods more important and what He’s telling us do going to result in something great. I think we need to realise that we have to put aside our own agenda and do what God wants.
And we have to settle some things in ourselves. What do we have to settle? Well firstly is our worth. Many of us don’t feel good enough. Do you know what? I’m absolutely certain that that feeling comes from the devil because God’s not about us being good enough. God is about using us not matter who we are or what we are, He just wants to move through us. And so I want to say to you, you’re worth has already been settled because you have been made worthy because of His blood and His sacrifice. Okay? So let’s settle that right now, you are already worthy and those feelings of unworthiness actually come from the devil. Because He has actually separated your sins as far as the east is from the west and they never join you need to understand that you are worthy.
One of the other questions we have is, where is the money going to come from? I remember the first time they invited me to Africa and I looked at my costings and it was going to cost me $6000 dollars and I thought well where is the money going to come from? Well I think if I look back today I still couldn’t tell you where the money came from. It came in lots of $20, that’s a lot of $20. People kept giving me $20 notes and before you know it I had enough money to go. Where will the money come from? I don’t have the answer to that question. I just know if its God vision there will be Gods provision.
I mean were going through this whole Covid thing which is why I’m not there speaking. And you know what; all my speaking engagements have been cancelled. How do I earn my living? By speaking, at the moment I can’t speak. Where’s the money coming from? I can’t tell you. I just know every month somehow the money comes. So don’t worry about where that’s coming from just say yes to God and it will happen.
I guess we want to say well how will I do this? You know I get consumed with this one, I’ve go to be honest with you. How am I going to do this? It bothers me. Because I’m one of these people who likes to plan and work things out and God has been speaking to me about going to Poland. I’m going Lord I don’t speak Polish and I don’t know anybody there. How am I going to this? God is saying well it’s not really your concern; your job is to just say yes and go. So guess what. I don’t have a good answer for you on that I just have to say we have to trust God. God will show you when you need to know.
What will it look like? We all want to know that because were inquisitive and we kinda like to have our little finger in there But you know what, God is just asking you to say yes. When those fishermen said yes I’ll follow you, did they have any idea what it was going to look like? That they would be traipsing all over Israel for three years, giving out fish and bread, and casting out demons? They had no idea what they were saying yes to. They just said yes. And do you know what, that’s part of the excitement of the journey when we say yes to God. I just think of some of my missionary journeys when I’ve really not known what’s going to happen and when God did stuff it was just marvellous. Looking back I’m glad I said yes.
The reality is it requires faith. We don’t have all the answers but what we do have is Gods assurance. He says wherever you go I will go with you. That’s the assurance that we have. People I want to say that when you say yes to God have this assurance that God will be with be with you. It might be uncomfortable but He will be with you.
What about a local example? I had a disabled guy turn up at my church. He was intellectually disabled and we were just starting out as a church. I said to him ‘well do you know what, everyone in this church has got to do something’ and I reached into my pocket and I pulled out my keys. And took the key for the church off my keyring, and gave it to him, and said Garry you’re going to be opening up this church, setting out the chairs, when we’ve finished you put the chairs away and lock it up. He did that faithfully until his family moved him to the South Island, never missed a Sunday. Highly intellectually disabled but you know what we gave him a job and he said yes to it. You know what it was amazing because he did a chair ministry when he left our church we gave him a lazyboy chair. Cost us over $1000 bucks, gave him the best chair that we could buy. You know what he said to me? ‘I’ve never had a chair before Pastor.’ Do you know what? In his house he didn’t have a chair of his own. His family don’t understand it but he’s got the best chair of the whole family. There’s a guy who said yes to God and he was a blessing to us and I think it was a blessing to him.
What about this one here? Jesus said what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.
Some say yes but they change their minds. Some say no but they change their minds. Is easier to say yes the more you get to know God. I can tell you now that having walked with the Lord for the number of year, I’ve now been preaching for 37 years. And do you know what? It’s so much easier to say yes. The first time I said yes to God, which is almost 37 years to the day, and I preached my first message and invited my next door neighbour along and he got to hear my preach that very first message. He was a lay preacher in the church for 60 years and I said to him at the end of it ‘Bill how was that?’ He said ‘Geoff I think that’s the worst message I’ve heard in 60 years.’ I was just devastated! I said ‘God you told me you wanted me to preach!’ And I’m a disaster! I said ‘I’m now down to preach next week what am I going to say?’ He said ‘That’s the question you should have asked the first week.’ I asked Bill to come back and hear me the next week because now I had Gods message not my message. I said ‘Bill would you like to come back and hear me again?’ He said ‘no way, once is enough!’ You know. But do you know the reality was? The message was a huge success and I had all these people coming up and asking me for prayer and I had no idea what I was doing. But you know what? The more you know God the easier it is to say yes to Him.
Jesus said this ‘If you love me you’ll keep my commandments.’ So deep down the basis of all this stuff is loving God. Amen? And he puts that love in us. You know it says there, someone taught me this the other day and I’d never thought of it like this. In Revelation it says you’ve forgotten your first love. Every time I hear that preached people preach oh you’ve forgotten what you loved at first but guess what do you know who our first love was? God loved me. How good is that? My first love is how God loved me and we’ve forgotten how God loved us at the beginning. Isn’t that cool? So guess what? Just let that love come out.
So what the application for us today? Lord I surrender. All I think He’s asking us to do is to surrender to Him. And you need to do that today. Say ‘God I’m yours’ and then choose to say yes. Every time you say yes to Him it’s going to result in blessing.