THE ANSWER TO HOW IS YES

In the early years of our marriage, a financial adviser told Sam and I never to take “No” for an answer.  He recommended that we interview brokers and bankers until we found one who could see a proactive solution and help us “make it happen”.  

We have carried this same principle into other areas of our lives and now live with an attitude that says, “No” is not an appropriate response – let’s find a solution and make it happen.”  

When we face our future, whether it is an opportunity or a challenge we must in that moment become very considered with our first response.  

I am petrified of the word “NO”.  I have observed the shrivelling affects of the word “NO” in other people’s lives.  

A “No” closes the conversation.  
A “No” closes the transaction.  

When you feel like confessing a “No” ask “How?” instead.  

“How?” is a powerful question.  
“How?” seeks more from the conversation.  

It’s a solution-oriented posture.  
It’s a teachable attitude.  

A “How?” opens the channel of exchange.  
A “How?” will always add remarkably more to your life than a “No”.  

But you have to ask the right “How?”  And there are many types, all subtly different.  

In the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel we read about the soon-to-be parents of miracle son John, who would become John the Baptist.  John’s future father, Zechariah, meets an Angel who prophesies a son to the aging and barren couple (Luke 1: 13-20).

Just a few verses later Luke records a similar conversation between an Angel and a teenage virgin girl named Mary, except this conception was considerably more impossible than the previous (Luke 1: 34-38).

Look at the difference between Zechariah’s response to Mary’s:

Luke 1: 34-38
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “the Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God… 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”  Then the angel left her.

Just a few verses earlier, we see Zechariah’s response to the Angel.

Luke 1:13-20
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”  19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

They look very similar, don’t they?

• Both are asking “How?”
• Both are presenting a unique circumstantial hindrance to the likelihood of the prophesy

But one subtle difference leapt out at me when I paused and looked more closely.

Mary’s “How?” came out of anticipation
Zechariah’s “How?” came out of doubt

While Mary wanted to know “How will this play out?”, Zechariah was asking, “How could I possibly believe this?”  
Be ever so careful in your response that you always respond out of faith and not fear.  Ask the right “How?”

“May your choices reflect your hopes and not your fears” Nelson Mandela

Ask the kind of “How?” that already believes in the promise, and so only wants to learn about the action plan.

It can be so incredibly subtle!  And we wonder why God shuts our mouths for a season while He continues to be at work around about us.

Could it be that our submission to His Word is only skin deep with an ocean of doubt and fear lying just below the surface.  So He “silences” us for a moment to limit the negative influence we might continue to have on the future generations.

In Mary’s case, the fulfilment of that Word was something beyond her control or capabilities.  The answer was the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and the power of God, not her own. 

Isn’t that always the case?! 
Isn’t the Holy Spirit dispensing the Grace of God always the answer?

We have to come to a place in our lives where we know that the plan God has for us is way too big for us to actually even achieve on our own.

Zechariah 4:6 (NIV)
6 so he said to me, “Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit,” says the Lord Almighty.

I love that!!
I love that I am a pen in the Hand of the Master script writer.
I love that I get to be a part of the epic tale He is writing in the Earth.

But what I love more is that He uses me in spite of me.
And that He empowers me to do things I could never ever do.

I love that I can overcome insurmountable obstacles because of His empowerment.
I love that I can break shackles from my life because of His revelation and strength infused into me.

I love that He is the One who fulfils it!
That it’s not me, it’s Him doing it in me and through me.

That gives me hope!

If God Himself is fulfilling His own Word then my inadequacies are irrelevant to the whole deal. 

My frailty is a non-issue!

We must come to a place where we understand it is only by His Grace that fulfilment will come.  In that posture God makes His plans come to pass through the lives of submitted people aligning their frail thinking, by faith, with His Word.

The answer to “HOW” is “YES”
If you’ve moved past “NO” and you’re now faithfully asking “HOW?”… Guess what? 

Just get on with it.
Do it afraid! 
It’s the story of my life!

You can wait till you’ve got all the credentials and all the planets are aligned or you can jump in and have the ride of your life saying, “YES” to God.

I have learned more on the fly then I ever have through training.
More is caught than taught – so jump in and go for it!

1 chronicles 28: 9-10 (MSG)
“And you, Solomon my son, get to know well your father’s God; serve Him with a whole heart and eager mind, for God examines every heart and sees through every motive. If you seek Him, He’ll make sure you find Him, but if you abandon Him, He’ll leave you for good. Look sharp now! God has chosen you to build His Holy House. Be brave, determined! And do it!”