From GlynnisWhitwer.com: http://glynniswhitwer.com/2012/03/the-biggest-yes-i-ever-said/
"There was a time in my life when I thought obedience to God’s will was easy. After all, it seemed to coincide with my will quite nicely. How hard was it to go to college, get married, get a degree in journalism and public relations, (yes in that order), start working at a great company, get a cozy house with a pool, serve how I wanted at church, have three healthy boys, and so on. See? How hard is that??? Why isn’t everyone obeying God like I am, I wondered. It’s so sinchy.
Then I realized … ahem … that I had neglected to actually check in with God about what He wanted for my life.
I clearly remember the day when my Glynnis-driven life came to an abrupt halt. Apparently, I had been ignoring God for many years, under the guise of serving Him, mind you. And He decided I needed an intervention in the form of a cross-country move. That story is quite long, so I won’t tell it here. But suffice it to say that God got my attention. In a BIG way. And I got a complete overhaul, for the good.
It was then I realized obedience can actually be hard at times. It can mean sacrifices in both small and large ways.
Today I have a devotion running on Encouragement for Today about a time when obedience meant a small sacrifice. That didn’t make it any less important, though. In fact, I realized that ignoring the good I should do, even in small ways, was sin. Hopefully you can read it if you haven’t already. But I promised at the end of the devotion to tell about a time when God asked me for a big YES. So I need to go back in my story … before the degree, cozy house and three boys.
Years before my husband and I had children we talked of adopting. We always envisioned ourselves taking in children who needed a home. We didn’t know how it would happen, but we were open to it. Then God gave us three little boys, boom – boom – boom, and I was undone. (If you want more of that story you’ll find it in my book “I Used to Be So Organized“).
I never had a preference for gender and loved being the mother of boys. But my husband wanted a little girl. So every once in awhile, he would bring up the idea of adoption and I would say no. I could barely manage the boys as it was, I said. A few years went by and he suggested adopting an older child. And again I said no. I was concerned what it would do to the boys to bring in an emotionally-wounded child. Then the move happened and God started that overhaul I mentioned.
Life settled down. We moved back home. And I was in the process of living out one act of hard obedience after another. In fact, hard obedience became my norm.
Then my friend Lysa TerKeurst came to town to speak at an E-Woman’s Conference. A few years before that, Lysa and her husband adopted two teenage boys from Liberia. It was my first time to hear her tell the story in person and I sat transfixed with the rest of the audience.
Then God started squeezing something inside me. My heart started to pound. And I heard God’s voice in my spirit say: “It’s time to say yes.” Then the vice grip tightened. I could hardly breathe. And I told God I got the message. please. let. go.
My breathing returned to normal but my heart did not. I went home and told my husband, and guess what he said.
He didn’t even pause before saying, “Yes!” And he kindly refrained from saying, “finally!”
To my surprise, not only were we to adopt, but we were to adopt internationally … from Africa … Liberia to be exact. And less than a year later, not one but two little girls joined our family.
We had no idea this would be the hardest act of obedience we have ever encountered. Our daughters faced nightmares no child should experience, and the scars run deep. Their needs are greater than we can meet, and it has caused all of us to depend on God like never before.
Knowing the difficult challenges and what it has cost our family (and I don’t mean just financially), many people ask if we regret the adoption.
This time I don’t hesitate. And my answer is “NO.” I don’t regret being obedient. I don’t regret saving the lives of these two precious girls. I do regret not being more aggressive to get them help and assuming that we could handle their needs ourselves. But I never regret making them my daughters.
God has shown me over and over that His way is best. I’m still learning to not move ahead of God, and to seek His will above all. But that doesn’t always make life easier. If you’ve read my blog before you probably know we are still in the midst of our challenges. Every day I’m desperate for God’s grace, and pray for healing for my girls.
Here’s the bottom line: I’d rather be in the middle of hard obedience with Jesus, than easy disobedience without Him.
Anyone else know what I mean? I’d love to what God has taught you when you’ve said “yes” to His call. If you are reading this in an email, please click here to leave a comment on my blog.
Thanks so much for joining me today!
Grace & Peace,
Glynnis"
