Episode 19 - Yes On The Table

What would happen if you stopped negotiating with God every morning and started the day with one honest prayer: “Lord, my answer is yes”? That question can feel thrilling or terrifying, and that reaction tells us a lot about the stories we carry about God’s character.

We talk through what a “yes” posture actually means in Christian discipleship and spiritual formation. It is not people-pleasing or saying yes to every good idea. It is a Spirit-led way of life where we learn to trust God’s goodness and join Him in what He’s already doing. Scott connects the theme to the biblical picture of God using Israel to reveal His glory to the nations, then points to Jesus’ own pattern: doing what He sees the Father doing. We keep coming back to a practical question Dallas Willard often raised: if Jesus were me, who would He be in this moment?

Along the way, we share stories that make the kingdom of God feel concrete: Amy opening her home in a long-term “yes” that becomes family for a survivor rebuilding her life, a group of believers choosing service over complaint in a short-staffed restaurant that sparks an Iranian family’s conversion, and a simple act of help in a dressing room that leaves someone overflowing with joy. We also name what gets in the way, including anxiety, shame, and fearful narratives about God, and how conviction can lead to repentance and deeper trust.

If you’re hungry for a more abundant life that looks like Jesus in everyday places, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVqyW_mDGBZ/?igsh=MTlsd3M5b25nNDdtcg==

Jumping through Fires: The Gripping Story of One Man's Escape from Revolution to Redemption - Kindle edition by Nasser, David. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Transcript

Tempo: 120.0

SPEAKER_03 0:04

Hello, listeners. This is Scott here with Amy, and we're excited about today's conversation. If you were with us this past week listening to the episode, you heard us kind of talk about some of the amazing pieces and realities of who God is, as Amy and I just tried to lead you to imagine and bask on the beauty and the glory of who God is and the virtues, some of the virtues, just a few, of his character and who he is as a person. And so Amy and I talk a lot about understanding the goodness of God and having the narratives that we believe about God being true and right, because there's so much of what that settles in our life. And in a similar, similar conversation, I was having with a group earlier this week. Someone was sharing a testimony, how they'd just been baptized, and they were basically just saying, you know, I'm just giving, I'm just saying yes to God. I felt like he was clearly leading me to get baptized in this moment. And and that sparked something in me, Amy, and we were as we were talking, and what it's like when we give God our yes, right? And and you have there have been a number of amazing stories where God has led you through inviting you to just a yes. And uh so we want to talk about a little bit of that today and and invite you guys to consider what God's doing in your heart and how he wants to use you in the world. And so I'll just kind of start us off by leading us into this conversation. You know, the the nation of Israel was a chosen people by God that he wanted to use to glorify his name in all the world among the other nations. And so we see as this clear theme running through the Old Testament where God took what was this weaker group people in the world and wanted to raise them up and answer their prayers and move mightily through them and have the other nations look to them and see that wow, their God, when they pray to them, pray to him, answers their prayers, and he does mighty acts. And when they call on his name, like he responds. And our gods don't do that. We want our God to be their God. We want we want their God to be our God. We want to make him and and accept him as our God and get rid of these gods who don't answer us. And and so God wanted to bring glory to himself through the people of Israel into all of the nations of the earth. And this is what the Lord says he wants to do. And so we can look at a number of different scriptures throughout the Old Testament where the Lord is revealing this plan. But basically, what we're trying to encourage you guys to imagine today is, you know, who does God want to be in you and through you that he is bringing glory to himself through the living of our lives. And so as our conversation was going in this group earlier this week, my challenge was, you know, I asked this question. I was like, if you woke up in the morning and the first thing that you act that you said was a prayer and you say, Lord, my answer is yes, what is it that you have for me today? Like, does that thought invite you to be anxious and fearful? Or does that thought make you really excited about what today may hold? Amy, what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_05 3:54

Well, I I have a lot of thoughts about this. I love this concept. I was introduced to this concept probably, I don't know, 25 years ago. It just really drew me and captivated me. I do feel like there's one caveat to it, like, especially for somebody like me who's a doer and who really wants to do all of the things. We are not talking about saying yes to every opportunity to do something good.

SPEAKER_02 4:33

It's great.

SPEAKER_05 4:35

Like we are talking about walking with God, living a with God life, fighting with him. And when when he gives us an opportunity, we're saying we want to have a faith in God to step into whatever he's inviting us to.

SPEAKER_03 5:06

Great clarification. And and the reality is, I think when we're willing to do this and to be in this position, we experience a life that unlike we would probably experience otherwise. Like I know story after story of you know, where you have given God your yes, and then he brought something to you that you would have had to really consider, and but you didn't. And we've talked a little bit about that. Give me just an idea of what that has looked like in your life.

SPEAKER_05 5:40

So years ago, we lived in a house that had a basement when we bought that house. It it was clearly the house God provided for us, but but the space in the basement was a little awkward, didn't really know what we were gonna do with that. And so I just kind of gave it to the Lord and said, Lord, I truly think you have given us this house, so you're gonna have to use this basement the way you want to use it. And I really was putting my yes on the table for whatever he had in mind for the basement. And so over the years that we lived in that house, we had a number of people who came and stayed in that basement. Like, I mean, just sometimes for a couple years, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:45

Sometimes for a couple years, totally.

SPEAKER_05 6:49

So our goddaughter, it it was just a very unique opportunity. She was coming out of a ministry for survivors of human trafficking, and she needed a new city to make a fresh start. So our church kind of partnered with the ministry and her mentor to say, hey, we'll we will kind of wrap up around her, be her support system if she moves here. So she did, and she needed a place to live while she kind of got her feet on the ground. And so when I was contacted about like, well, who at the church has a space at my word for this? I was like, well, we do, she's welcome to come here if she wants to, and I didn't even have to think about this. Like, that's not typically how I make decisions.

SPEAKER_04 8:05

Right.

SPEAKER_05 8:07

But I knew that based on what about I knew about this girl, she loved Jesus, she was sold out so in love with Jesus. Her face challenged this godly mentor she had, and my church was gonna be helping to support her. I mean, that was a yes for me.

SPEAKER_04 8:34

Right.

SPEAKER_05 8:35

You know, like, yeah, she needs to come here best totally fine. And we thought that she would be staying with us for maybe, you know, six or eight weeks while she gets here, gets a job, and the apartment. And she ended up staying with us for two years, and she's still a huge, huge part of our lives ten years later. So, I mean, she's our family, right? And anyway, so so yeah, that was just all part of having us on the table, and people have asked me based on her story and her history, and obviously having come from all of that. She she's got a past, right? And people have asked me, like, were you concerned about having her into your home? And honestly, I was not. I mean, that is so countercultural for me, right? But I was just not I just this was a god if if it worked out for her to come and stay with us, that's who God at my auntie at space.

SPEAKER_03 10:01

You know, there's so much that I think that God desires to do in us and through us by by learning and discovering, you know, where we don't trust him. And we'll probably talk about that here in a few minutes. But I think that's a part of what you know kind of comes up when we consider this. And, you know, there's so much like again, looking back, I just immediately kind of think of culture of the kingdom, like our episode number two, our first lesson, you know, that we that we spent a lot of time, you and I, talking about. And it's like, well, I mean, if you were, you know, a being, an angel, whatever, a being in heaven, and this girl needed a place to stay, well, you'd be like, Well, yeah, of course she can stay here. Like it wouldn't, it wouldn't be a second thought. And so it's that nature that the Lord had was already doing in you, that you're living according to the kingdom, that you hear this opportunity and you knew that this was the Lord asking. And it was like, well, of course, if this is what he's asked. I mean, this is how Jesus lived. You know, he lived waking up, you know, his life was a yes to the father in whatever he had. He didn't consult himself or rationally think, you know, well, I wonder whether or not I agree that this is what we need to do. He just woke up with a yes in his heart because of who he knew the father to be. And so he said, I simply do what I see the father doing and say what I hear the father saying. So obviously he had this interacted connectedness, I think we would call that prayer, that he participated in and joined the father in and heard from the father and was directed and had truth that was in him, that was being spoken. But he woke up with a big yes, you know, using the language that we are for this podcast. And so that's what I'm trying to, you know, encourage us to consider. Well, if we're gonna be disciples of Jesus, living to become like him in every way possible, then we need to be a people that wake up with a yes in our heart to whatever the Father may put before us. And it doesn't take us having to, you know, ideally work through and consider, but it's just it's the natural overflow of our heart. And so I actually, based on this conversation I had with this group, it really stood out to me as I heard this little testimony of an Iranian Muslim who moved to the U.S. with his family. And as I heard this story, I was just like, yeah. I mean, this is just what life is like when it's a yes. So I'm gonna play this little clip. It's just a couple minutes long, because I think it's a great illustratory illustration of what a yes can sound like in the world. It broke our lives.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

It broke the back of everything we held certain. We came to America looking for the American dream, but we actually found something so much bigger. I graduated from high school, popular. I was just parties a lot. One night after high school, I was smoking weed with a buddy of mine while we were smoking weed in Bitum to church. And I said, I hate, I hate God. I'm Muslim by parents, but I saw religion gone wrong in Iran, and I don't want to have nothing to do with them. It's only the five for this girl from high school are gonna be there. It's a fucking motherfucker on a Saturday night, and no, my dad's gonna say no and try to get my buddy off the back. Instead of saying no, my dad yells from his bed. What is the name of it? He's asking the name of the church. And what I didn't know, two weeks prior to that Saturday night, there would be people from the church based mountain that the church down the street was home that had come to my dad's restaurant to see how my dad was short-handed on Waitstaff, and instead of complaining about the bad service, they rolled up the sleeves and waited up to go to my bath restaurant and going back the birthday and forth, going back the next day, go to the end. Aubrey Edwards invited my dad to choir practice. And what the choir practice is at the end of choir practice, Aubrey put a piece of paper out into the choir that the people signed up to work for free. No, that's just for busboys and waiters at my dad's restaurants. If God has sovereignty to use that to underize my dad's car, fast forward two weeks later. I'm asking if I can go to church because what is the name of it? My buddy yells up the name, and it's the same one. And so my dad goes, if I know those people, you can go there. And so I got to go to church. I went to church and for eight Monday nights we came to my house and took the gospel with me. And then one night I got saved, and the night I got saved. My parents were not happy. The night I got baptized, my parents expanded and took me out of the house. Five months after my sister became a Christian, five months after that one month, my mother became a Christian, and then five months after my brother Benjamin, who was fearfully and wonderfully made down something and became a Christian, and then two and a half years later, my dad got sick. And God worked all things for the good of his purpose, right? As much as I love this country, what I love the most isn't what it's afforded me in the land of opportunity, but the freedom by which I came to Christ here. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 15:03

Religion broke our so somebody from Shades Mountain Church woke up that morning with a yes on their heart and just lived their life and went to dinner, and Jesus got to be Jesus in them in a restaurant. And lives began to change, and the kingdom of God began to break through here on earth as it would be in heaven, because the people of God had a yes on their heart, and instead of complaining about a restaurant being short-staffed, the spirit led them to become servants in a moment, and a whole family got saved. How amazing that experience must have been for those people in the restaurant. Like I can just imagine. I don't know the details of what happened next beyond what we just listened to, but I can just imagine, you know, that the people that left the restaurant that night having just served and went back and told this amazing story about how God was directing them to be servants and how much life they found by like getting to serve this Iranian, you know, uh restaurant owner. And the story goes around and it's it's so life-giving that the people around them, their friends around them, were like, yeah, I want to be a part of that. Like, I'll sign up to go be a busboy in this Iranian restaurant because the kingdom just showed up in this moment. And to everybody around that had eyes to see, like, this is a life-giving moment. This is the kingdom breaking out, and they could already see and imagine, and the spirit was stirring them to want to go care and love and serve just like they would if they were in the kingdom of God in heaven. And it's the culture breaking out in their hearts and in their minds and in their lives and in their service and in their time, and it's life-giving. Like that's what God wants to do for us. That's the type of life that I that Jesus wants to live through us. If he were, as Dallas Willard says, you know, we're learning to live life and just bring our yes to the Lord, you know, language of this conversation. But as Willard would say, you know, that you're learning and and living for Jesus to live his life in you and through you. If Jesus were me, who would he be in this moment? And at that restaurant that night, Jesus wanted to be a servant and serve this Iranian, you know, person in the U.S. And you can hear the story of it. So I think what's so amazing is like when we really get to this point of a freedom to love God and to see how good He is, He leads us to a yes that just bursts open our hearts to experience life like we've never known before. And it's usually through serving and caring and loving someone in a way that we never maybe would have if we were distracted by all the concerns and worries that we tend to run around with when life's all about just me.

SPEAKER_05 18:37

Well, the other thing about the culture of the kingdom is that Jesus describes it as it being like a mustard seed, which really is like a very invasive plant. It just grows wild. And so the culture of the kingdom, I would say, is contagious, like it just expands. And I love that you found that clip. David and Esther, familiar with him. He lived in the same city as me. And he actually has a ministry now. And at one time he pastored a church here, and I had the privilege of just happening to go to that church on Christmas morning one year. It was very close to where we were living, and his youngest brother, I believe both of his parents had passed away at this point. And his younger brother, Bingy, who has Down syndrome. I mean, he made that Christmas morning surface one of the most memorable Christmases that I have ever had. He came up at the end of the surface to play a song on the piano. And David talked to him for a few minutes, and you could just tell how much Benji loved his big brother David. And how much Benji loved Jesus. And you have never seen anyone play such a simple piano piece, loving Jesus more. I mean, he had so much joy. He had, I mean, it was just beautiful. There was not a draw in the sanctuary because we all saw the kingdom of God come through Bingy, just worshiping the Jesus he loves. And it was just wonderful. So I'll put I'll connect people to David Nasser's book. He wrote and stuff in the show notes for this episode, but but just to see how the kingdom of God come into his family when he was in high school, and now David Nasser has had an incredible ministry sharing the kingdom of God with people.

SPEAKER_03 21:45

Somebody woke up that morning and was like, I just Jesus, yes. What is it now? What is it that you have for me today? And that they were watching for and looking for, and the spirit was obviously in the moment. To guide them to say, hey, why don't we serve hey, rather than complain about the service, why don't we why don't we like help them out? And look at look at what you know transposed like this guy's son, who they didn't even know he had a son in the moment, I'm sure, like would become a pastor. And that his other son would be playing piano in front of hundreds of people on a Christmas morning and being a story that people tell about years later, right? I mean, yeah, but God's just like how good he is, right? And this is what life is like in the kingdom is that when we live and become a people that are living to become like Jesus in every way possible, like we're excited to be able to, like, God wants to use our lives to be to be to tell stories about that people tell stories about, you know, your great-grandkids tell stories about how God used you in some moment, and it wasn't about you, it was just how good God was and how you got to be a part of the opportunity because Jesus wanted to be Jesus in you and through you into the world, and it's a kingdom moment breaking forth here on earth. And when those happen, they're so life-giving. And so I think that's the main thing I would want you listeners to be able to hear is that like this is so life-giving. Like, why would we want to live life apart from this? Like, are we really finding satisfaction in the Netflix and in the, you know, the new new vehicle or you know, the new trinket that you've had your heart set on? Like, do those bring forth the same level of joy as witnessing a life transform before your very eyes? I'm telling you, they don't.

SPEAKER_05 23:52

Hey, I've got one more story for you about this. So, one of my friends who listens to the podcast, she told me this just this week. She said she had been thinking about how we talk about bringing the kingdom of God. And she had gone shopping this week for a dress she needed to wear to a wedding. And she ended up finding herself in the dressing room with an elderly woman who was shopping for the same type thing, a dress to wear to a wedding. And the elderly woman was kind of having a hard time just, you know, getting into the dresses, giving them going and getting a right sizes. So my friend saw this, and she actually thought, huh, this seems like a kingdom opportunity. So she went over and offered to help the lady and started talking to her. She ended up staying in that dressing room with her for an hour and a half, helping that lady find the perfect dress for this very special wedding that she was going to. And she said that when it was over, that lady just thanked her, hugged her, blessed her, and my friend was blessing her back. And for when she was telling me this story, she was so full of joy. She was like, this was the greatest experience. It was just so wonderful. And I know, like, it's not a big thing, but you know what? It felt like a big thing. And so I think whoever like this is really the invitation to anybody listening, is just like have your yes on the table and see what the Lord brings your way. And and that's just like when we started, we kind of said, This isn't about saying yes to every opportunity, right? This is a spirit-filled walk with the Lord where you're just joining him in what he's doing. And you're but it's a condition of our heart that we are willing to say yes.

SPEAKER_03 26:56

Scripture teaches us to delight ourselves in the Lord, and we will have and he will fulfill the desires of our heart, right? Like the as we lead our hearts and as we allow our hearts to have our heart just say yes and delighting in who God is, you know, then he is going to bring these treasures that he has placed in our heart to life and into being, and he will be the one who makes these things take place. And I've got to believe that, you know, those people who served that night in that Iranian restaurant had this fulfilling moment as they walked out and they recognized this kingdom moment and they glorified God from it. I think, Amy, the the other thing that that comes from this is for those of us, and you and I both know that we've both been there in the past, right? Where we were still having some of the narratives of what we believed about God weren't in alignment with reality or with truth, and where we saw God, where I saw God to be, you know, this person kind of sitting on the throne throne ready to judge me, and I was ashamed to come to him, right? Where considering my yes to be on the table would make me really nervous and afraid. And what I've come to discover is like even that is like this really beautiful moment in wherever you are in your faith journey. Like, we would call that conviction. And that is the conviction is this beautiful thing that the spirit is doing that is leading us to life. Like, there's something that's getting exposed that has been in the dark that the spirit is inviting to come into life. And so that conviction is pointing out okay, there may be a narrative about God that I have a hard time imagining, or I'm scared, or I'm nervous to give him my yes because I don't know what's going to come of that. And what if he asked me about this? Well, if God is only good and he's only loving and he's only kind and he's only wise, then why would we need to be fearful or afraid or nervous or anxious about trusting him? And so, where those narratives exist, it is loving and kind and wise and good of him to uh shine a light or to bring that nervousness forward because he wants to cor to bring about a change. We would call that repentance. He wants to invite you toward change, a change of thinking, right, that embraces the truth about who he is rather than the lie that the fear is trying to share. The lie that that anxiety is trying to hold on to, like those whispers of the enemy that steal, kill, and destroy. But Jesus said, I came that you may have life and have it abundance, this spiritual life, like John 10, 10 is what I'm quoting. And so, like there is a work, even in our anxiety or our tension, that the Lord is lovingly bringing about and shining light on and inviting us toward something more. For those who are uncomfortable with thinking about my yes, like that's okay to be uncomfortable, but don't stop there. Like, say, Lord, what is it that I'm afraid of and where I don't trust you? Because he will lovingly and patiently and in a kind manner lead you to truth, that then is able to celebrate and to and discover the life that he has, that he can be trusted, and that he shows up when called upon. And so I just want to point that out. Like there's there's even more, there's always more of the Lord, right?

SPEAKER_05 31:03

And so I I've stumbled upon this. See, this is happen to make you like the Lord will show me a kingdom opportunity, and I go, oh, I don't want to do that. Uh-uh. Uh uh, I don't want to do that.

SPEAKER_04 31:22

Right.

SPEAKER_05 31:22

And that goes back to the broken water. And I would just say, my experience in those situations, yes, that's the tension. That's the tension where you go, okay, Lord, what am I thinking? And what would you have me think? And most often, then it leads to repentance, because I am thinking the wrong thing. And for me, a lot of times, it's it's turned people into projects, and people know when they're being treated like a project.

SPEAKER_04 32:06

Right.

SPEAKER_05 32:07

And so, you know, as a love issue, it gets to the rules of the game. You know, and if we're saying a lot of things that you don't know what we're talking about, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 32:21

Go listen to episodes two through six, right?

SPEAKER_05 32:23

I mean, it's like Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 32:25

This is language that we use regularly, and it's so when the more we process it and invite the Lord to lead our lives, the more these little themes keep coming up and inviting us toward change and inviting us toward life. Like it, it's you know, saying yes to a hard thing in the kingdom is the most life-giving experience you'll have while breathing. And so, anyway, I think that we've kind of put this out there and we're we're glad you guys are still with us. Thanks for for listening in, and hopefully you're encouraged by this. But Amy and I just hope and want with you for the kingdom of God to come here on earth as it is in heaven, in your life and in your community, and in your house, and in your neighborhood, and in your restaurant, or wherever it is that you find yourself, that Jesus wants to be Jesus in you and through you into a lost and hurt and broken world. And he's looking for people who'll just say yes. And so consider that. And if you need help with it, then we're available. But we do know and we have both experienced that God is good and he can be trusted, and he leads us into amazing opportunities where he shows up and Amy, it's like we're just kind of flies on the wall, right? Watching him do what only he can do. And so thanks for listening in. Hope you guys have a great week.

SPEAKER_05 33:56

See ya.