Yield

 My family loves road trips!

We have never been anywhere together the 4 of us in a plane. We always drive. 

God has been ministering to me over and over again about the idea of a heart willing to “yield.”

As my daughter is 16 we are teaching her how to drive.  

Yielding to oncoming traffic is quite a challenging concept.

Yield. Easier said than done.

Yield or another synonym might be “trust.”

2 Chronicles 30:7-9

“Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were untrue to the Lord God of their fathers, so that He made them an object of horror, just as you see. Now do not stiffen your neck like your fathers, butyield to the Lord and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, that His burning anger may turn away from you. 9 For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will find compassion in the presence of those who led them captive, and will return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

To yield is to give the other car the “right of way”

“Yield” means let other road users go first. It's not just other cars. Don't forget about bicycles and pedestrians. Unlike with stop signs, drivers aren't required to come to a complete stop at a yield sign and may proceed without stopping -- provided that it is safe to do so.  

Yield can be used as an agriculture term.

yield ; verb (used with object). to give forth or produce by a natural process or in return for cultivation- as in “This farm yields enough fruit to meet all our needs”

Yield- give GOD the right of way (Matt 6:33) 

Yield- LORD make my life & spirit fruitful for your kingdom purposes!   

John 15:8 (NLT)

When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

If we yield to God, we bring Him glory

If we yield to God, bearing fruit is not an “maybe” it’s a sure thing, a promise.

verse 9 says if we return to the LORD (repent & surrender) we find a compassionate God, a Faithful Father not a brow-beating God.

Compassion: 

Definition- sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.

Also defined as sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it. 

“The Latin root for the word compassion is pati, which means to suffer, and the prefix com- means with. Compassion, originating from compati, literally means to suffer with. The connection of suffering with another person brings compassion beyond sympathy into the realm of empathy.”

This is EXACTLY what Immanuel does He suffers with.

Our compassionate Jesus is saying “Trust me! I know how hard it is to yield. I’ve walked on earth too. I know what it is like to have free will. I suffered as a human and I suffer with you, along side you feeling your feelings. I understand”

This is the God who is pleading with us to “return” to Him and yield to Him! 

Yielding on the road can be tricky. It feels dangerous because there are other cars bigger faster scarier than yours.

It’s not blind faith. We must use wisdom and get to know the road manual (The Word of God) as we travel through this life. 

God will show us the way, if we’ll only let Him direct us and navigate us. (Prov 3:5-6)