Greetings, Precious Family. May the Peace of the Lord be with you always.

Today’s scripture passages are:

Matthew 21:28–31 & Genesis 3:11

Family, there are times when the distance between what God asks of us and our response is longer than we would like to admit.

We know what we should do. We know what God has placed in our hearts. We know where we are supposed to go.

And yet…we don’t go.

Sometimes we procrastinate. Sometimes we become distracted. Sometimes we are afraid. Sometimes we are exhausted.

And sometimes…we are hurting.

Jesus tells a story in Matthew 21 about a father who had two sons. The father went to the first son and told him to go work in the vineyard.

And the son said no. Not maybe. Not I’ll think about it. Just, flat-out, No.

But something happened afterward.

The Scripture tells us that he changed his mind…and he went.

Precious Family, there is something extraordinarily beautiful hidden inside that simple story.

The son’s first response was not his final response.

There was distance between his no and his yes.

And sometimes the distance between our “no” and our “yes” isn’t rebellion.

Sometimes it’s where we’re wrestling with pain we don’t yet know how to bring to God.

Sometimes we are disappointed.  Sometimes we don’t understand what God has allowed.

Sometimes we prayed for one thing and experienced something entirely different.

Sometimes life hurts us so deeply that even though we still believe in God, we don’t quite know what to say to Him.

So we become quiet. We hesitate. We procrastinate.  We withdraw.  And before we realize it, days become weeks.  Weeks become months.

And somewhere in that distance, other voices begin speaking.

You’ve waited too long.

You should have obeyed the first time.

After everything God has done for you, how could you respond like that?

You call yourself a Christian?

You call yourself a minister?

You call yourself faithful?

Don’t bother going back now.

And suddenly procrastination has become something much more dangerous.

The issue is no longer simply:

“I haven’t gone yet.”

Shame has transformed it into:

“I am no longer worthy to go.”

But there is another question in Scripture that speaks directly into that place.

After Adam and Eve ate from the tree God had forbidden, they became aware of their nakedness and hid themselves.

When Adam explained that he was afraid because he was naked, God asked one of the most profound questions in all of Scripture:

“Who told you that you were naked?”

Think about that.  Adam had been naked before.  Nakedness wasn’t new. Shame was.

Something had changed in the way Adam saw himself.

And God went directly to the source:

Who told you?

Precious Family, perhaps we need to ask ourselves the same question.

Who told you that because you struggled, God no longer wanted you?

Who told you that because you became angry, you couldn’t come home?

Who told you that because you stopped praying, you couldn’t start again?

Who told you that because you haven’t opened your Bible in months, you shouldn’t open it tonight?

Who told you that because you put the assignment down, God would never allow you to pick it back up?

Who told you that because your first answer was no, God would no longer receive your yes?

And perhaps beneath God’s question is an even deeper one:

Why did you believe their voice over Mine?

Sometimes procrastination creates space for other voices to enter.

We delay doing what we know we should do, and while we are waiting, shame begins interpreting the delay.

Procrastination says:

I’ll do it later.

Time passes.

Shame whispers:

Now it’s too late.

Condemnation adds:

And there’s something wrong with you.

Then disqualification delivers its verdict:

So don’t even try.

But Precious Family…Who told you?

Did God say that? Or have you been living beneath a verdict that God never pronounced?

Look again at the first son. He said no.

But eventually…he went.

Jesus asked which son did the will of his father.

It was the one who initially said no but changed his mind and went.

His delay mattered.  His initial response mattered.  But neither became his permanent identity.

He was still able to go into his father’s vineyard. And so are you.

Maybe your first answer was no.

Maybe you never actually said the word, but your no looked like silence by:

Avoidance.

Procrastination.

Anger.

Confusion.

Fear.

Disappointment.

Or simply staying away.

But if somewhere inside you there is a yes rising today… Then Go!!!

You don’t have to resolve every question first.

You don’t have to pretend you were never angry.

You don’t have to erase the days, weeks, months, or even years that have passed.

You don’t have to punish yourself long enough to become worthy of returning.

Just go.

Because delayed obedience does not make today’s obedience meaningless.

Your struggle did not revoke God’s invitation.

Your silence did not make God stop listening.

And your first response does not have to become your final response.

The vineyard is still there.

The Father is still Father.

And you can still go.

                         Sacred Reflection

Precious Family, what has been speaking to you during the space between your “no” and your “yes”?

Whose voice told you that you waited too long?

Whose voice told you that you were disqualified?

Whose voice told you that God wouldn’t receive you now?

And most importantly:

Did God actually say it?

Before accepting another verdict over your life, return to the question God asked in the Garden:

“Who told you?”

Then listen again for the Voice that spoke before shame ever entered the conversation.

                                  Prayer

Abba,

Some of us have been away longer than we intended.

Some of us became distracted.

Some became afraid.

Some procrastinated.

And some of us were simply hurting so deeply that we didn’t know how to bring our pain to You.

Forgive us for the places where we have delayed our obedience.

But Abba, also deliver us from the shame that tells us our delay has disqualified us from returning.

Help us recognize every voice that contradicts what You have spoken.

When condemnation says, “It’s too late,” remind us of Your grace.

When shame says, “You are unworthy,” remind us whose voice has the authority to name us.

When fear says, “Don’t go back now,” give us enough courage to take one step toward the vineyard.

And when we hear You asking,

“Who told you?”

give us the courage to examine every voice we have believed above Yours.

Some of us said no yesterday.

But Abba…

today, our answer is yes.

We are getting up.

We are returning.

We are going to the vineyard.

Not because we have done everything perfectly,

but because You are still our Father.

Thank You that our first response did not have to become our final response.

Thank You that shame does not have the authority to disqualify those You are still calling.

And thank You for reminding us tonight:

We can still go.

In the name of Christ Jesus our Lord and Redeemer, Amen, Amen, Amen.

Worship Video

We are still Living In the In-Between, Family.

Abba, I still don’t understand. Some things still hurt. I still have questions. But…Yes.

Rev. Marcia Davis

Covington, GA (USA)