“Yield”

By: Perla Aviles

Hi guys!!

Welcome to 2024!!

I am so glad you are here and that you made it to another year. If you are here, it means there is still hope. I want to thank you for coming back and reading these blogs. I am beyond excited for what the Lord is going to do through One Day at a Time with Janny. I have been contemplating for a while on what to write and switched topics multiple times. I decided to give it a rest and let God just guide me into a topic. As I was sitting in my bed after church, God brought to memory the word “yield.” Immediately I thought about the sign I see on the street with the triangle with the same word. I decided to look for the meaning of this sign and this is what I found:

“In essence, yielding the right of way means graciously permitting another vehicle, pedestrian, or cyclist to proceed through an intersection ahead of you.”

When I first read this description, I pictured the opposite of what this is depicting. I pictured the times I came across this sign and, instead of slowing down, I quickly sped up to be ahead of the incoming car. This is the complicated nature of our flesh; wanting to do the exact opposite of what we ought to do. Always wanting to skip the instruction of the Holy Spirit. Always wanting to be driven by my personal desires.

Ever since I was a child I have been very competitive. My husband often laughs when we go bowling or to Dave and Busters because I always want to be the one to be winning. Doesn’t it feel good to win? Doesn’t it feel good to have “the right of way”? To have the upper hand? It often gives us a taste of a thrill. Our desire to win is often related to a chemical in our brain called dopamine which is linked to pleasure. However, I’ll let you guys in on a secret. I always try to listen to that little voice on the inside of me, that spiritual moral compass God placed on the inside of me. The Holy Spirit, that tells me to be quiet when I’m about to grieve him with my words towards others. That little voice that guides me through making important decisions. But, If I am being completely honest with you guys, there are those moments when going against it gives me that momentary rush of dopamine and makes me feel like I finally won. Yet, when I go home, when no one sees me, that little voice whispers, “you shouldn’t have done that.” The guilt within me tries to consume me. The feeling of failing God and the inability of yielding when I should’ve brings me back to my spiritual senses. 

If you’ve ever been in the same position as me I want to remind you, my sweet friend, the yielding signs are not to make you feel less. They are not to prevent you from moving forward. They are not to stunt you, to belittle you or make you feel less important. They are there for caution, for grace, and for mercy. They are there to protect you from a possible “crash” or an “accident.” 

The truth is yielding requires humility and willingness to let God, through his Holy Spirit, have the right of way in every area of our lives. When we give into our own pleasure, when we are driven by our own desires our joy might not last very long and we might also hurt others in the process and hurt ourselves. 

At times I have wondered about poor Moses. The Bible describes Moses as an exemplary man of faith in Exodus 11. Deuteronomy 34 even indicates that God himself buried Moses when he passed away. We are told in the word that there was no prophet like him whom the Lord knew “face to face.” Yet he wasn’t allowed to enter the promised land. In Numbers 20 God gives us the reason why. God told Moses to speak to the rock but instead Moses struck the rock. How many times have we been striking people with our words instead of speaking to them? 

I can confidently tell you that I could relate to Moses’s frustration with the people. One day they were following Moses and the next they were creating idols out of gold. One day they trusted him to lead them through the red sea, the next they were complaining about the manna from heaven. A journey of 11 days took 40 years only because the people were not yielding. Moses was supposed to enjoy the fruits of his labor but hindered his opportunity due to yielding to his own anger. I could only imagine how Moses felt while he watched the people set their feet into what was once just a promise and a desire in their mind; the land promised by God. 

God remembers we are dust, we are imperfect, and that we are human. Experiencing our emotions is not sinful. What we decide to do with them could be. The pleasure of yielding to our flesh, I promise you, is short-lived. I have been there. I have experienced the brief satisfaction of saying something slick. I have been the author of a sarcastic comment that stemmed from my own hurt caused by others. I have felt victory making my own choices too quickly realizing it wasn’t the best choice after all. I have also been the one to yield and wait patiently for my next instruction even in the middle of my anger. I have also been the person to respond peacefully even when receiving the wrath of someone else’s anger. My question to you today is, would you be willing to yield to God today? Would you yield to the instruction of the Holy Spirit? Would you speak to them when you feel like striking? Would you proceed with caution when necessary? 

When you surrender and yield to God’s authority through His Holy Spirit you free yourself from the responsibility of relying on yourself and the limitations of our human yet limited understanding. You are opening yourself to guidance, to wisdom, to transformation. We don’t know it all, and that’s okay too. I invite you to YIELD. When you follow God’s guidance at times it might feel like others are head, but the truth is, you are approaching Him with empty hands ready to receive what He has for you. His ways, His instructions are so much better. You might not see it now, but there is a promise attached to your YIELDING. He will neither LEAVE YOU nor FORSAKE YOU. You won’t have to do it alone. Your reward will be more than you can think of or imagine. 

I want to leave you with the following quote…

With love, 

Perla