2026.07.19 | When My Yes To God Needed More Resolve Than Emotion

I am a starter, not a finisher.

That is not something I enjoy admitting, but it is true. I love new ideas, new projects, new commitments. I have said excited yeses to gym memberships, Bible reading plans, volunteer roles, and even job opportunities, only to feel the excitement fade a few weeks later.

Yesterday when Jeff talked about his 1,000 pound club attempt and how he said yes before really counting the cost, I laughed out loud, mostly because I saw myself in it. I have my own graveyard of half-finished commitments and abandoned plans.

Then we hit Acts 19:21.

“Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, ‘After I have been there, I must also see Rome.’”

What got me was that Paul made that decision in the middle of a really good season. Ministry was fruitful in Ephesus. People were repenting. The gospel was spreading. If I had been Paul, I would have been tempted to settle in, decorate an office, and stay as long as possible.

Instead, Paul prayed, heard the Spirit’s leading, and then formed a plan that would cost him comfort, stability, and probably safety. And it was not just a burst of inspiration. It was resolve. It was a long obedience in the same direction.

As Jeff talked about counting the cost before saying yes, I started thinking about my own “yes” to Jesus.

I realized that some of my yeses have been more about emotion than conviction. I have said yes to leading when I was fired up after a conference, yes to serving when a need was announced in a moving way, yes to generosity after a powerful story. None of those are wrong, but feelings do not carry you very far when things get boring or hard.

I thought about a ministry commitment I made last year that quietly fizzled out when my schedule got complicated. No big failure. No public meltdown. Just a slow drift away from something I had actually promised to do.

That is where the three movements Jeff laid out hit home for me:

For me, that means slowing down before I say yes. Not just thinking, “Is this a good thing?” but actually asking, “God, is this what You want me to do?” I have not prayed that as often as I should. A lot of my decisions are made based on opportunity and guilt rather than listening and discernment.

There are areas where I actually do know what God wants. There is a hard conversation with a family member I have avoided for months. There is a habit I know I need to confess and get help with. I keep saying I am praying for clarity, but the truth is I am scared. I do not need more information. I need courage.

There are also areas where I feel ready to move but God seems to be saying, “Wait.” I have career dreams and ministry ideas that feel stalled. Hearing that Paul sent Timothy and Erastus ahead and then stayed in Asia “for a while” encouraged me. God is not late. He is not ignoring me. He is preparing me.

The sentence that has stayed with me since Sunday is this: “God isn’t going to microwave His plans for you.”

I want everything fast. Promotion, progress, visible fruit. But when I look back at the slow, hidden seasons in my life, they are the ones where God did most of His deep work in me. Those are the years where He exposed my pride, healed old wounds, and taught me to obey when nobody was watching.

- I am taking one current commitment and laying it back before the Lord, asking honestly, “Is this still what You want me to do?”  

- I am choosing one specific step of obedience I already know about and putting a date on the calendar to do it. Not someday. This week.  

- I am naming one area where God seems to be saying “wait,” and instead of trying to force it, I am asking, “What are You trying to form in me here?”

I still like new things. I probably always will. But I want my yes to Jesus to be more than a moment of emotion. I want it to be a settled resolve, rooted in prayer, expressed in action, and willing to wait as long as He says.