“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 1: 20).

It occurred to me the other day how foolish it is of me to pray about the things God has already promised. When I feel overwhelmed and alone, I pray “Lord, please be with me” even though he’s already promised, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you” (He 13: 5). When I see loved ones I pray for turn father from God, I begin to doubt.  But God has already promised, “[I] will carry unto completion the good work [I] have started in you” (Ph 1: 6). There are times I wallow in guilt and shame, powerless to do anything. I wonder if God can accept me. But he has promised, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Ro 8: 1). God has given us so many promises and they are all “yes” to us in Christ Jesus. All we have to do is respond “Amen”, by faith.

But if we’re going to say “Amen” to God at all, we have to be willing to say it always, even when it’s hard – to the promises and to the commands. The truth is, at some point(s) in this walk, God will ask us to do hard things. He commanded Noah to build an ark for 100 years. He told Abraham to sacrifice his son, the promised son. He told Moses to go before Pharaoh. He told Jonah to preach to Nineveh. He commanded the Twelve to “Follow him”. For each, obedience to God cost them something – people’s misjudgment, their family, their livelihood, even their very life. But all of them responded with “Amen”, and it was credited to them as righteousness (He 11). Even, or especially, Jesus submitted himself to obedience to God as he prayed, “Not my will but yours be done”. If we have decided to follow Jesus, we are no exception. God will ask hard things of us. When those times come, can we still say, “Amen”?

Many follow Jesus for the grace and love, but not for the hardships and sacrifices. However, if we are true, we won’t just follow Jesus because we gain forgiveness of sins, we’ll follow him because he is somehow objectively and inherently worthy. We follow him because he is God. I think God brings us through difficult things to show us just that, that He is worth it because he is worthy. He is so much “beyond” the treasures we carry – beyond my dreams, my desires, my plans, my imagination. It takes letting go of a better thing to gain the best thing.

For most of my life, I don’t think I had this “Amen” faith. I said yes when I knew I could do it, but not if I thought I couldn’t. That’s not faith, though. More recently, through my albeit feeble “Amens”, I am convinced that God does see faith. The unknowing amidst obedience is a scary thing – when all you have to trust is God’s goodness, and everyone else thinks you’re a fool to still believe. But God wins through, always, and to his glory. Amen. I pray that we would trust and love God enough to say “Amen”, even when it’s hard. We may not always know why, but we can know it’ll never be in vain.