Turn Your Maybe Into Yes
Regardless of how I feel about a teen driver who cannot change a flat tire, I love the insurance company commercial where two stranded teenage boys in the dark of the night are standing beside a car that apparently has a flat tire.
One of the boys is on his cell phone with his father and yells into the phone, “Dad! Of course, I know what a lug wrench is!” Then he immediately places the phone close to his chest so that his dad won’t hear. Holding up the tool, he impatiently asks his friend who is standing off to his right, “Is this a lug wrench?” His friend hesitates and then answers in a deep voice, a sideways look and a long “maybe”. Clearly, neither of them is sure. That commercial resonates with me because it sums up the way I have felt about many things in my life.
For example: when I took a yoga class several years ago, I could not stop laughing at those positions...what was I supposed to think when I peered upside down at the woman beside me, legs and arms pretzeled in a way that I wasn’t sure I could undo? Is this really the way to a healthier life? When the instructor would ask me if I was okay, my skeptical response was... maybe.
In general, I have always had a hard time taking myself seriously... I question my opinion on many topics: how to be the perfect friend, wife, mother; how to have the best vacation, Christmas, or garden; what is right on anything current - or, does it really matter what I think? It is even hard for me to think that I have something to write here. Maybe it’s insecurity or maybe it’s a blessing; as I get older, I realize my hesitation comes from years of seeing that only God is All-Knowing: He is the Perfect God Who sees what we cannot:
David - a shepherd boy as King of Israel? Rahab - a prostitute who became part of the lineage of the Messiah? Jesus - the Savior born as a baby, placed in a manger, died AND resurrected for all mankind so that we might have life? Yes! Yes! And more Yeses!
What words do I have that could possibly add to the “yeses” of God? 1 Peter 3:15, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience.” Peter wrote a number of directives: always, be prepared, answer with reason in gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience. Or, be ready to share your own words with the “yes” of the Truth of Jesus being the Only Way to our Holy God.
I talked with a woman recently who said, she believed that it doesn’t matter where you go to church...it all leads to the same god. To me, there was/is no “maybe” in response to her statement. I waited until she was done talking and I said, with gentleness and respect, that I disagreed with her statement about all churches’ teachings leading to the One God; Jesus is the only Way. She simply said, “oh”.
How is it that I have a holy fear of not giving the reason for the hope (I) have in Jesus Christ as the only way to God? Why does my conscience not allow someone to deny the Love that God has freely given to me? Because it is personal...my relationship with Jesus and the knowledge of His love for me is personal.
Through the years, when I have questioned God, Jesus or my own faith, God has provided answers in the Bible through study and prayer. Books such as Mere Christianity, The Case for Christ, Beyond Opinion have taken away doubt and “maybes” in my heart, soul and mind. I have much to learn about our great God, but for me, there is no “maybe” in knowing the Truth. God wants me/us to live in the “Yes!” of knowing Him. He gives us the question to seek Him and He provides the answer when “we search for Him with all our heart”.
Unlike moral teachers who have talked about many ways to God, Jesus said - the night before He gave His life for us - I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me, (John 14:4 - 6) No one has claimed that, died and walked out of a tomb on their own. He lived out His words. He showed us His Love, His Power; He did not just speak them. I have come to know, personally, His Love and I can confidently share my belief and personal relationship with the God of Love.
Holy Father in Heaven, thank You for the assurance of the reason for the hope we have in You. May the blessing of the insecurities in myself keep me focused on Your YES! found in Jesus as the Way to You, alone. I am grateful for the confidence You give for us to know through Your Holy Spirit that Jesus is the only way to God. Amen.
