Are You Willing to Say Yes? - Episode 11
The beginning of your Advent journey through Mary’s story. This episode explores the courage it takes to obey God when nothing makes sense, and how a simple yes can change everything.
What if the next chapter of your life doesn’t begin with clarity…
but with courage?
In this opening episode of our four-part Christmas series, we step into the real weight and wonder of Mary’s story — not the polished version we grew up hearing, but the vulnerable, human moment where God asked a young girl to trust Him with an assignment that made no sense.
Before the miracle.
Before the manger.
Before anyone celebrated her.
Mary stood face-to-face with a choice:
Say yes to God… or say yes to fear.
And she had every logical reason to walk away.
Her reputation. Her engagement. Her safety.
The whispers. The judgment. The risk.
But her “yes” wasn’t rooted in understanding — it was rooted in surrender.
And that’s where this episode meets you.
If you’ve ever felt God pulling you toward something that scares you…
If obedience has ever cost you comfort, certainty, or approval…
If you’re walking through a season where your “yes” feels heavier than you expected…
This episode is for you.
Together we’ll explore:
- The unseen weight behind Mary’s decision
- Why God often invites us into callings that stretch our understanding
- How to trust God when the assignment doesn’t make sense
- What obedience looks like after the yes — in the questions, the quiet, and the tension
By the end, you’ll be asking yourself a life-changing question:
Am I willing to say yes even when it costs me?
Because Mary’s yes changed everything…
and so will yours.
✨ Encouragement for your spirit. Wisdom for your walk.
🎧 Listen now to pause, refocus, and rediscover the peace that comes from thinking God’s thoughts about you.
What if the next chapter of your life,
the one God is inviting you into right now,
doesn't begin with clarity,
but with courage?
What if the next move isn't about having answers,
but about having a willing heart?
Welcome to my question for you. I'm your host, Melissa. And today marks the beginning of a new four part Christmas series where we'll walk through what it really looks like to obey God after you've said yes.
Not the polished part,
not the picture perfect part,
the real human trembling in your chest part.
But first,
here's my question for you today.
Are you willing to say yes even when it doesn't make sense?
Because that's exactly where Mary stood the moment God stepped into her quiet little life.
Before Mary ever said yes,
before she ever carried Jesus, before angels sang or shepherds came running,
she was a teenage girl in a tiny town living a simple, hidden,
ordinary life.
She was engaged,
but not yet married. And in her culture, that meant she had everything to lose and almost no protection.
If she turned up pregnant, she could be shamed, rejected, even stoned according to the law Back then,
people forget this part because Mary wasn't a queen.
She wasn't wealthy, she wasn't powerful,
she wasn't protected and she wasn't prepared.
She had a million reasons to say no and she had every logical reason to run the other way.
Just think about it.
What will Joseph think?
What will my parents think?
What will the synagogue think?
What will the people in my town say? Who will believe me?
What happens to my reputation,
my engagement,
my safety?
Those are all logical things that Mary could have and probably was thinking back at that time.
In that moment, obedience wasn't glamorous.
It had to be terrifying for her.
Her yes was not convenient.
Her yes was not safe.
Her yes was not celebrated.
Her yes was costly.
And this is what makes Mary's story so sacred.
God didn't choose her because the assignment fit neatly into her life.
He chose her because her heart was willing, even when nothing about it made sense.
Her yes didn't come from clarity.
It came from surrender.
Her yes wasn't built on understanding.
It was built on trust.
And her yes wasn't surrounded by applause.
In fact, it was surrounded by potential humiliation.
Mary said yes while people whispered, while her future felt uncertain, and while fear sat right beside her.
She obeyed God with unanswered questions still hanging in the air.
And maybe that's exactly where you are right now.
Because let's be honest,
saying yes to God would be easy. If the path was clear,
the timing was Perfect if the people around us cheered us on.
But what about the yes that leads you into unfamiliar territory?
The yes that triggers pushback,
the yes that risks misunderstanding,
and the yes that demands you walk forward without a single explanation?
What about the yes you gave God that led you straight into confusion or silence,
or the very thing you hoped he would save you from?
That's where this series begins.
Not at the moment of surrender,
but at the moment after,
when the adrenaline wears off,
when people start raising their eyebrows,
when doubt whispers louder than your faith,
when nothing around you confirms what God told you.
When you're carrying something holy and no one else can see it.
This is obedience in real life.
And that's what we're going to walk through together over the next four weeks.
So let's turn to Scripture. Let's look at Mary's response in Luke, chapter one, verse 38. It tells us,
I am the Lord's servant.
May your word to me be fulfilled.
Those words are powerful,
not because Mary was fearless,
but because she wasn't.
She was fully aware of how complicated this calling was going to make her life. And still she said yes.
Not because she knew how everything would work out,
but because she trusted the one who asked her. Courage wasn't the absence of fear.
It was obedience in spite of it.
So let me ask you again.
Are you willing to say yes even when it doesn't make sense?
Are you willing to say yes even when people don't understand?
Even when the timing feels terrible?
Even when the assignment is intimidating?
Even when your reputation might be on the line?
Even when your logic and everything in you says run?
Even when God asks you to trust him with something you don't feel qualified to carry.
Your yes doesn't have to be loud.
It doesn't have to be perfect.
It doesn't have to be confident.
It just has to be surrendered.
Because obedience is rarely convenient.
But it is always holy.
If you have a journal nearby,
please write this down.
What fear rises when God invites me into something new?
What am I afraid my yes will cost me?
And what promise in my spirit feels too risky to obey?
Here's a simple prayer.
Lord,
give me a Mary style yes.
A yes that trusts you more than my fears and believes you more than my logic.
In Jesus name, Amen.
Foreign.
So, friends,
if God is inviting you.
Into something this season,
you don't need all the answers to obey him.
You just need the courage to trust that he sees what you don't see. And he's preparing what you can't yet imagine over these next few weeks, we're going to sit with a few things.
How to wait well in uncertainty,
how to carry the weight of obedience without losing heart,
and how God prepares provision in places that look too small to matter.
But for today,
just remember Mary's yes changed everything and so will yours. What will your yes look like?
Will it change your family? Will it change generations to come? Will it leave a legacy? Will it impact your community?
Could it change the world?
Think about what your yes could mean.
And until next time,
keep asking,
keep.
Listening, and keep trusting God right here in the middle of the unknown. Before you go, if this episode stirred.
Something in you, don't let it stop here.
Join the Growing My Question for you.
Community at Myquestionforyou.Com and get my free Reflection Guide. It follows along with each weekly episode and gives you more ways to dive in and grow closer to God. And you'll also get my weekly email called A Quiet Invitation, where you can take the conversation even deeper.
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Post it to your story.
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