Monday Morning Devotion-April 4, 2022
Yeah-But
Remember dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who are powerful. God chose those things despised by the world, things that counted as nothing at all and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God. 1 Corinthians 1: 26-29
*Assisted by Ebook Monday Morning Devotions2.
I've found in my life experiences one of the main things that often keeps me from getting things done is a case of the "Yeah-Buts." It seems that sometimes, without even being conscious of it, I am guilty of looking on the negative side. I find myself being very vigilant and am on the lookout for those things that would cause me to fail. What I should be considering are the factors that would engender success.
As the late president John F. Kennedy said: "Some people look at things and ask, Why? I look at things and ask Why Not." Why is it that we don't follow that example more often? Maybe it's a lack of confidence in our ability, our personality, or skills or whatever that causes us to say, "Yeah But" or "What if" this or that happens. We need more self-confidence.
Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
I realize when God looks down on what I'm doing He doesn't see Jim Crosby, FSU baseball broadcaster/writer or the author of books and articles, the husband of the amazing lovely Susette, father, grandfather of two beautiful young girls, or public speaker. What He sees is "Just Plain Jim." But JPJ is the person he can really use to make those other Jim's a success.
How about you? What does the Loving Heavenly Father see when he looks at your life?
God took a guy by the name of Just Plain Gideon who came up with a bunch of Yeah-Buts when called to rescue Israel from the Midianites. But God showed JPG how he could rout that powerful enemy with just 300 men.
The Bible abounds with examples of JPFs (Just Plain Folks) who were rescued fromYeah-But attitudes by the Heavenly Father.
Let's see! There was Just Plain Noah. People laughed at old JPN when he was building the ark since it hadn't rained in a long, long time. We know the rest of that story how God flooded all those Yeah-Buts with lots and lots of rain. The earth was flooded.
Then there was Just Plain Joseph. Young JPJ was sold into slavery by his brothers and had every right to come up with a bunch of Yeah-Buts in exile in Egypt. Instead, he became governor.
You know about old Just Plain Moses. Think of all the Yeah-Buts that bombarded him when he was told that he was the one who would rescue the entire Israelite nation and bring them out of Egypt. He led his whole nation of enslaved people out and right through the Red Sea.
How about when Jesus came to earth preaching a controversial message to the people who wanted to hear from a mighty conqueror. They had plenty of Yeah-Buts for that love your enemy stuff.
But Jesus did not alter his message of love. Instead, He personally selected and appointed as John MacArthur calls them in his book "Twelve Ordinary Men." They were twelve perfectly ordinary, unexceptional men. Christ's strategy for advancing His Kingdom hinged on those twelve men rather than the clamoring multitudes.
Foremost among them was Just Plain Simon. Simon was a very common name back in Jesus' time. There are at least seven Simons mentioned in the Gospel accounts alone. Jesus was walking along the seashore one day and he saw Simon and his brother Andrew fishing with a net, and he called out: "Come and follow me and I will make you fishers of men."
Now, Simon and Andrew had met Jesus before. They were a part of that multitude, so they knew Jesus was preaching a controversial message. Simon and Andrew were common, ordinary fishermen whose livelihood depended on their daily catch. They could have said, "We'd like to go. Yeah-But who will tend the family fishing business? We just can't leave."
But they didn't. They followed Jesus and He changed Simon's name to Peter which means the Rock. He did that because of the kind of person He wanted to see Peter become. Instead of a brash, vacillating, start-but-don't-finish-it type of guy, He gave him the name Peter to remind him of what He wanted him to become--- a solid, steady rock.
Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda had a young, skinny pitcher with an extraordinarily powerful and accurate pitching arm. He had great potential, but he needed to be more fierce and lose his timidity. So Lasorda nicknamed him "Bulldog" the opposite of his personality. Then, Orel Hershiser became one of the most tenacious pitchers to ever take the mound in the major leagues.
Once while talking with Charlie Ward about all the success, he had in football (Heisman Trophy winner) and basketball (Drafted by the NY Knicks), he said that he had achieved this despite having always thought of himself as a Just Plain Joe or in his case a JPC. That is where his faith in the Lord intercepted and superseded any of those Yeah-But moments he had experienced.
For us to become successful in what we do as Just Plain Jims and or Just Plain Susettes or Just Plain (fill in the blank with your name), We need to overcome the Yeah-Buts. The way to do this is instead of looking for reasons we cannot do something, ask God to show us how we can.
Prayer: Lord, please eliminate the yeah-buts in our lives by reminding us of all the good things that have come from You, so we gain confidence that there are more to come. Amen!