For 2024, my One Word 365 is “yield, “ and the Lord isn’t wasting any time taking me deeper into what that can mean in my life. Let’s start off easy, shall we?

Last weekend our family celebrated our younger granddaugter’s, Gracie, tenth birthday. For she and her older sister, Annalyn, that means a friends party, plus family gathering in the resturant of their choice with guests of their choice. This year Gracie chose Golden Corral much to the disdain of several family members, including Annalyn who made the same choice just a couple of years ago. Go figure<:

Turns out, a buffet was a great choice for a group with diverse tastes and dietary needs. It was also an opportunity to observe yeilding in action, and help me understand it a little better. Before we get to heavier insights, please allow me a little doting.

Dear Reader, did anyone else “yield” to a loved one regarding a gift during the recent holiday season? Did you progress from, “You want WHAT?” to “Whatever!” and finally to “I may not get it, but Gracie wants it and that’s good enough for me?”

Gracie and Annalyn think “Bluey” is fantastic, me, not so much. She wanted a Bluey “Squishmallow” for her birthday. (Said Bluey was delayed due to weather, thus the note in her hand.)

“yield . . . intransitive verb: give way to pressure or influence : submit to urging, persuasion, or entreaty”

Merriam webster

One of Webster’s synonyms for yield is “succumb,” I’m really not a fan of that one for a couple of reasons. Think about a four-way stop at an intersection. If you succumb to all the other cars you might be there all day. Hopefully what most of us do is make ourselves aware of the cars and recall the rules of the road about who goes first, next, etc. I’m learning for me yielding includes becoming aware of options and expectations.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness. Then it is peace-loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is WILLING TO YIELD to others; it is full of mercy and good deeds. It is wholehearted and straightforward and sincere.

James 3:17 TLB

Do you see that, Dear Reader? “Willing to yield?” Our Heavenly Father created us with free will, able to make our own decisions, good, bad, or ugly.

Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.

Soon after the new year, God asked me to give up something I love dearly, something I believed to be a big part of His calling on my life. I was so confused. Why would the Lord seemingly give me something to love and excel at only to take it away? For a half second I wondered if God was angry or had stopped loving me.

God chose to not let me linger in a dark place of rejection and mourning for long, not because of my tears, but because of His mercy. He reminded me that it was my choice, and He would never ask me to do something that wouldn’t ultimately benefit me and His Kingdom. Then, in a hot minute, my loving Heavenly Father cut to the chase.

In mid-whine, asking why I was being punished, honestly Dear Reader, it was like He was at my shoulder whispering in my ear, “What about Abraham and Isaac?”

By faith, Abraham, at the time of testing, offered Isaac back to God. Acting in faith, he was as ready to return the promised son, his only son, as he had been to receive him—and this after he had already been told, “Your descendants shall come from Isaac.” Abraham figured that if God wanted to, he could raise the dead. In a sense, that’s what happened when he received Isaac back, alive from off the altar.

Hebrews 11:17 msg

What could I possibly say to that?

Got showed me that yes, yielding is a matter of choice . . . and trust. He gently reminded me that He is the creator and source of integrity: we can trust God to never break His promises.

God is not a man, so he does not lie.  He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

Numbers 23:19 NLT

But God wasn’t finished with lesson number one. He asked the question that’s been asked for over two thousand years, “What about Jesus?”

And now they came to an olive grove called the Garden of Gethsemane, and he instructed his disciples, “Sit here, while I go and pray.”

He took Peter, James, and John with him and began to be filled with horror and deepest distress. And he said to them, “My soul is crushed by sorrow to the point of death; stay here and watch with me.”

He went on a little farther and fell to the ground and prayed that if it were possible the awful hour awaiting him might never come.

“Father, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take away this cup from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.”

Mark 14:32-36 TLB

This passage seems to show that Jesus had uncertainties; He was ambiguous about what lay immediately ahead. Of course we weren’t there and obviously didn’t hear God’s side of the conversation. Still, it sounds as though Jesus had a say in the matter. Did He wonder for a heartbeat if His faith was enough to overcome human dread of torture and crucifixion?

And yet, in the end . . . Jesus chose obedience to our Heavenly Father and yielded.

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know that he gave up his heavenly riches for you. He gave up everything so that you could be richly blessed.

2 Corinthians 8:9 ERV

If January is any indicator, Dear Reader, it looks like 2024 is going to be a year of challenge, learning, and mercy. How is your year looking so far? Whatever it is, whatever it will be, my prayer for you, Dear Reader, is for challenges to met with grace, learning with an open heart, and mercy to abound.