That is correct, everyone. The title is as cheesy as it sounds for a blog post. Recently many people in my life, including me, have been trying to figure out what to say yes to, and in turn, what to say no to. I’ve been reading an AMAZING book entitled, “Let’s All Be Brave” by Annie Downs. I will be quoting her a lot because I feel she is my spirit author (like spirit animal) and answered all my questions.

I’m starting by suggesting that you read my last blog post first. That outlines some basic principals in decision making I learned from a conference. (I will wait here for 3 minutes while you read). After you go through that, it’s important to ask the question, “Do I trust God?” …..like seriously. Don’t give me the Sunday school answer, “If I pray hard enough anything is possible”. Do you trust God in every single aspect of your life? Does HE have control of the situation, or are you using Him more as a reference? If you are abnormally worried about the situation, maybe start with talking to God about that. Lost a job? Trust God has something better. Going through a break-up? Trust there is a reason. Don’t know what to do with your future? Trust that God will show you a direction.

The basis is trusting that He will provide. The Bible is chalked full of example of God’s faithfulness such as Romans 8:26-30 or how He provides for Ruth and Naomi after the death of Naomi’s husband. However while I was re-reading the crucifixion story in Luke, it sums up my personal testament for how I choose to pray when I need to trust.

Luke 22 reads:

 ³⁹ Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. ⁴⁰ On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” ⁴¹ He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ⁴² “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” ⁴³ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. ⁴⁴ And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

I want to point out verse 42. I think this is a perfect way to pray. “God, if you are willing” It acknowledges that God has ultimate authority and yet is still humbly asking. Then it follows up with realizing that God’s will is more important than our human wants and needs “but yours be done”. Sure, Jesus wasn’t too thrilled about being hoisted onto a cross, but it was the only way to save us. Jesus recognized that there was a bigger plan at play. It wasn’t just His own wants, but He was apart of God’s grand story. And so are you. Maybe not in the same way as Jesus, but God has a role for you. God couldn’t take Jesus’s death away, but He provided the strength He needed (v43). Then, He prayed SO hard he started sweating. Jesus’s dedicated prayer is quite the example here. I don’t know about you but I have a lot of work I need to do with my prayer time to reach that amount of sweat…

To quote the book I mentioned in the beginning, it discussed a lot about what we should say YES to. On page 75 (on my iPad) Annie writes, “We don’t screw up by saying yes to the wrong things; we screw up by letting all the floats in the parade pass us by and never jumping on one of them for a ride to the end.” She continues on page 77, “You’re heard before that saying yes to one thing is saying no to all the others. It’s true, I think. If I say yes to a sushi dinner with my Vanderbilt baseball players, I’m saying no to Mexican with my friends.”

Most people reading this are under the age of 25, which means…YOU HAVE SO MUCH TIME LEFT. For me personally, I decided I have the next 50 years to work for the Lord in ‘my own backyard’ or as a teacher. Why not spend time away from comfortability for a bit and serve somewhere I wasn’t so familiar with.

Every yes means no to something else. But, what is your yes? What do you feel most peace about? What gets your heart beating with excitement and wonder? What is Jesus cheering you on to do? Many options can honor Him, so where is the need?