Yes, Lord!

by Kalie Lowrie

          I carry a small blue card around in my Bible. On the front it simply says, “Yes, Lord!” On the back it reads May 2, 2010. I've had this in my Bible for the past five years to remind of me the day when I knelt at the altar and surrendered my will to the Lord. When I said “Yes” to whatever the Lord was calling me to, whenever He was calling me.

You are probably expecting me to tell you the next thing I did was quit my job, run home, pack my bags and move to the Middle East. Guess what?! That’s not what happened. Actually, there were not any drastic events following that commitment, but rather it was a heart-change. It was when I really began to believe God could use me and would use me, regardless of how equipped or prepared I felt. He was asking me to be willing to be His vessel.

I gave my life to Christ at a very young age. I believe when I prayed my prayer of repentance and invited Jesus into my heart, He washed my sins away and entered into my life. Growing up, I sought to serve Him and love His people. I grew in my relationship with God and had struggles along the way, as everyone does. But, I think I was still holding on to my dreams, my plans, and ultimately my will.

I wasn't giving God all of me, I was giving Him the parts I was comfortable with Him having. At times, I was allowing fear of the unknown, rejection and uncertainty to prevent me from being all God had created for me.

On that Sunday, five years ago, God called me to lay down those dreams, plans and my will. He asked me to be willing to say “Yes” to Him, whatever the cost, whether I felt prepared or not, regardless of the outcome. It was such a humbling time of obedience, but looking back, I can see how God has used that moment of surrender in so many ways in my life.

To walk in obedience with the Father is to trust His plans. 

To “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5).
God has shown me that my desires need to come from Him. 

Psalms 37:4 says to “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” 

That means I need to seek the will of my Father, to lay down my desires, and examine them to see if they are truly from the Lord. If God (not I) placed desires in my heart, He will fulfill them in His time.
As my precious friend Helen Outlaw so beautifully taught us at Worship and the Word last September (I was watching via FaceTime in India and it was just as powerful!), we need to walk in faithful obedience. We need to put on our work shoes and apply all of the knowledge we have gained. We need to go and plant seeds of the Gospel. We need to work for the Lord.
And beyond faithful obedience, we need to produce fruitful obedience. Saying “Yes” to the Lord does not just mean going and doing good works. 

It means going and doing works that bear fruit for His Kingdom. 

I can work and toil and strain to do good deeds all day long, but if they are not truly what God has called me to do, it’s not being obedient, I’m just wearing myself out.
I hope you will join us April 17-18 at Flourish, the First Irving Women’s Spring Retreat. We have invited some wonderful women of faith to come and teach us more about what it looks like to walk in fruitful obedience to the Lord. To be women who seek the face of the Lord and go out and do what He has called us to do. To take the head and heart knowledge God has given us and to apply it daily in our hearts, homes, workplaces, and community.
In my prayer time this week, the Lord reminded me that 

He has equipped me for what He is calling me to do today, and He is preparing me for the work He has in store for me tomorrow. 

God longs to walk alongside us, dear sisters, as we seek to do His will, glorify Him, and share the Gospel with a world that desperately needs to hear. Are you willing to answer that call? Are you ready to say “Yes, Lord!”?

Kalie Lowrie has been a member of First Irving since April 2012. She is active in the Forge young adult ABF, serves on the Women's leadership team and helps with the Connections team in the Welcome Center on Sunday mornings. Kalie works in Communications for Texas Baptists and in her free time she enjoys traveling, spending time with friends and family, playing games and watching Gilmore Girls.