Every “Yes” to God Will Face a Reality Check

Every “Yes” to God Will Face a Reality Check

Pastor Tim Dilena recently said something that has stuck with me: “Every ‘yes’ you say to God is going to face a reality check.” It’s easy to say, “Yes, Lord, I’ll follow You.” It’s a whole lot harder when that “yes” starts costing us something. What happens when following God means giving up the vision board you created for your life? Your comfortable home? Your finances? Your career? Your plans? We love the idea of following Jesus—right up until Jesus starts leading somewhere we hadn’t planned to go.

I’ve learned that God’s call rarely fits neatly into the life we’ve already designed for ourselves. At some point, every “yes” gets tested. Did I really mean it? Will I still say yes when obedience is uncomfortable, inconvenient, expensive—or when I simply can’t see how everything is going to work out?

Jesus never asked us to add Him to our plans. He said, “Follow Me.” Sometimes following means laying our plans down completely. We want God to do something extraordinary through our lives, but we also want Him to do it without disturbing the life we’ve carefully built. Yet throughout Scripture, God does extraordinary things through ordinary people who are willing to put their lives on the altar. Maybe the question isn’t, “What can God do with my life?” Maybe it’s, “How much of my life am I actually willing to give Him?” As I was thinking about this, I was reminded of my son sleeping on a piece of cardboard in a puddle of rat urine leaking down on him from the ceiling.  Yet he never complained, and if you ask him, he considers it an honor to be able to go and share the gospel with people who otherwise have no way to hear about the love of Jesus.

So here’s the question I’ve been asking myself: What am I unwilling to put on the altar? My comfort? My money? My career? My security? My future? Because whatever it is, eventually my “yes” to God is probably going to collide with it. And when that reality check comes, I pray my answer will still be the same: “Yes, Lord. Wherever You lead, I’ll follow.”

Would you pray with me today?

Lord, I give You my “yes” again today. Not just when following You is easy, but when obedience costs me something. Help me loosen my grip on my plans, my comfort, my finances, my career, and my future. When my “yes” faces its reality check, give me the faith to trust that Your plans are better than mine. Whatever You ask, wherever You lead—may my answer still be, “Yes, Lord. I will follow You.” Amen.