Willing To Say “YES!”

Dictionaries define the word OBEY as “submitting to the authority of; or to follow the commands or guidance of.” Submitting and following commands are always difficult actions to put into play in today’s culture, but my husband and I are stepping out in an act of shear obedience.

Some of you might be aware that for the past 15 years I have been nudged to write God’s story of what He’s done for our family after my husband’s severe burn injury. Last year, I began exploring the idea with a sense of urgency as I felt the growing importance of the desire to share our journey in order to possibly encourage someone else facing a tragedy. I was also feeling the importance of capturing our journey on paper for future generations so they would be able to get a sense of who their great grandparents were and how God had lavished blessings upon us in the midst of a trial.

I attended two different Christian Writer’s Conferences this past year and I spent many hours at a nearby coffee shop, putting together a book proposal and sample chapters in order to be able to pitch my book idea to potential agents and publishers. Last July, I was challenged by several respected people in the literary world to not only have our story written, but in addition, they told me that my husband and I needed to become speakers. They proposed that we needed to share our powerful story of overcoming, joy and hope around the country at churches and small conferences.

YIKES!

All I could think of was all the many valid reasons that this potential ministry wouldn’t be a good plan. Public speaking has never been something I ever really enjoyed, even though we have shared our story to groups on occasion. The thought of travelling and getting up in front of the masses terrified me. Writing a book can be done in the shadows of a corner table at my local coffee shop; speaking to groups is in a whole different league. Since July, I have had many, “Moses Moments” where I have allowed doubts and fears creep in and almost paralyze me from honoring God by giving Him the glory He deserves.

If I continue to make lame excuses, I rob God of the opportunity to share a message of hope with others. A friend of mine challenged me one day when she told me that by not acting on something that God has asked us to do is a form of disobedience. That got my attention!

Little by little, with fear still in the background of my soul, I began to listen to what God wanted from me. The decision I needed to make was being hindered by my doubts and fears. Have you ever felt like God was hitting you over the head with a 2 x 4 to get your attention? In August, God began revealing His will for me in powerful little ways. I began a women’s bible study that dealt with conquering my fears so I could be empowered to do what God wants from me. In September, in our couple’s small group at church, our study dealt with many daily scriptures that emphasized the importance of obedience and honoring God. At a women’s retreat we studied Isaiah and the scripture, “Here I am. Send me.”

So, in a pure act of obedience, I recently made the phone call to the literary agent that’s been encouraging me and I agreed to have our story written and told her that we would obediently agree to begin a speaking ministry. God wants us to do this- I can feel it. I now need to conquer my doubts and fears and remember that God equips the people he calls to do a particular task. He continually uses people who are just willing to obey His calling in their lives. In agreeing to do something that is so out of our comfort zones, we will need to rely on God for strength and vision and wisdom. We will need to ask Him for help along the way. Our role is to just be obedient and to openly and honestly share the story of how God continues to use our trials and tragedies to bring others closer to Him.

Exciting things are on the horizon! Soon my husband and I will travel to Texas to meet with the literary agency who will be helping us launch our speaking ministry and we will soon begin to meet with a brilliant New York Times bestseller author who will interview us in order to begin writing our story. Hopefully, by next summer our book will be published and we will be booking speaking engagements.

Did I say YIKES yet?