As long as I have been a Christian, God has been in the business of interrupting my life! Why? Because that’s what I signed up for when I asked him into my life.
Late last fall, the Lord showed me a vision. I saw a piece of farm equipment, almost like a plow or tiller. It was red and covered in snow. On the back of the plow were seats. I saw people clearing the snow off the seats and sitting down. A tractor began pulling the plow and I knew this tractor was the Lord. He was the power pulling the plow. As I thought about the scene, a tractor pulling a plow in the winter snow, I began thinking of how out of place it was. I know just a little about farming, as my grandfather was a farmer. But you don’t have to know much about farming in Indiana to know that you don’t see tractors in the winter plowing fields. The ground is hard and frozen. It’s out of season. It doesn’t happen.
But the Lord dropped in my heart a question. Will you come into agreement with me, even if it seems out of season? You see the people were coming into agreement with Lord. He had a work he wanted to do and even though it was out of season, they sat down and came into agreement with the work he wanted to do.
About a month or so later, with the help of a prophetic word and some encouragement by others, I decided to share a sermon on what God was speaking to me through the vision. He continues to speak to me on that same topic: Yielding to the Lord.
We all know what yielding is from a driving perspective. We slow down to possibly give another vehicle the right of way that they are entitled to have.
In a similar way, we are to yield to the Lord. Why? Primarily, we accepted him as Lord, not just Savior. Lord implies something. It implies ownership. It implies authority. In the New Testament, the greek the word for Lord is Kyrios, meaning “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has the power of deciding; the possessor and disposer of a thing, the owner.” When you gave your life to him, you surrendered all to him from a heart of thanksgiving and love. He is a good, good Lord. But, do we realize that when we call him Lord, we are saying “You own me. You have the power to decide. Do with me as you want.”
So, just as a vehicle has a right of way, so should the Lord. Does he have the right of way in your life? Perhaps you jump out ahead of him, cut him off? My way or the highway! I’ve done that. God is rich in mercy and love, and he won’t relent. We may cut him off, but he is unrelenting in his pursuit of you. He actually wants to jump in the car with you and take the lead! He doesn’t want control of you. He wants a partner. He wants a willing, undivided heart that he can use to further his will on the earth.
So, what are you not yielding to the Lord? If you are not saying yes to the Lord, what are you saying yes to? All of us have 24 hours per day. Rich or poor, 24 hours. What are you doing with your time? Are you yielding it to him? Are you allowing the Lord to interrupt your life?
Seriously, what are you saying yes to? Stop right now and take an inventory of your life and your time. What are you saying yes to? If you are like me, it’s vastly inferior things.
Will you recommit to yield everything to the Lord? I don’t want to say no to the Lord. Do you?
Jeff Hughes Connect Group Ministry Leader NCWC