Yes, Lord!

Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9

As a pastor, I’m supposed to desire more than anything to be involved in people’s lives. But when I was asked to perform a wedding for a certain couple, I balked. I didn’t know the couple very well, and I had not met any of their family members.

I knew in my heart that God wanted me to perform this wedding, but it was a mystery as to why. I soon found out.

At the rehearsal I was surprised to recognize the groom’s best man, a man named Wes. I knew Wes and his father, who would also be at the wedding, and I had been praying for months for an opportunity to minister to them. Neither of them knew Jesus, and they had become something of a personal mission for me.

The next day I was able to spend more time with Wes and his father at the reception than I had been able to in the previous three months. As best man, Wes had to give the toast for the bride and groom, but he was very nervous and didn’t quite know what he was going to say. He approached me and asked me to help him put his thoughts into words, which I gladly did.

Two wonderful things came out of my willingness to do the wedding. First, Wes did a wonderful job giving the toast. Second and more importantly, a new mutual appreciation developed between Wes and me, and that allowed me to minister to him and his father more easily.

The irony of this story is that in calling me to do a wedding I didn’t want to do, God gave me the opportunity I had been praying for. Once again, I was reminded that when God speaks to my heart and asks me to do something, the only answer that should come from my mouth is, “Yes, Lord!”

Lord, give me the confidence to obey you.