A YES Lesson From Mary: Saying YES to God’s Plans and Adjusting Yours

November 29, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Mary is a good model. Think about it. She had a plan: To marry Joseph and have a family, to do all the things a normal Jewish girl would have done in her culture. But God had another plan. He chose her and Joseph because their hearts were already given to Him. He knew they would roll with His new plan. And they did.

Having a plan is only a starting place. We make our plans. He directs our steps (Proverbs 16:9).

The bottom line, my friend, is to remember that with God, nothing is impossible. That’s what the angel Gabriel told Mary (Luke 1:37). Gabriel told Mary that there was no way she would make God’s new plan happen. All she had to do was to say YES. God Himself would make it happen. Her part was to cooperate with His plan.

Are you ready to cooperate with His plan? Are you ready to let Him adjust your plan? But first, are you ready to make a plan? Yes? Great! Just remember, you can do this!

Excerpt from The YES Adventure: Transform Your Life with One Word by Cathleen Zahradnik. Check it out here. If you’ve read the book, please leave a review on Amazon to help other people find it!

A YES Lesson from Mary: Saying YES to Mystery

November 22, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Confused.

I imagine Mary felt that way as she watched Jesus carry the crossbeam of his own torture through the streets of Jerusalem on a day that should have been preparation for celebrating the Passover. I wonder what kind of conversation she was having with God as she watched her angel-announced child bleeding from being beaten and scourged. How she must have cringed as insults were hurled at the child she had carried through promise and uncertainty and as she remembered the stable-turned-inn where she gave birth and received the visit of excited shepherds, or the small-home arrival of wise men with palace gifts. What were her questions? She must have felt so much confusion. “God, what are you doing? I don’t get it!”

Even for the woman who received a life-altering, history-making promise from a heavenly visitor, confusion was part of her experience. Modern culture tries to explain everything! You can find an article on the internet by “experts” in every field the mind can imagine. Every expert tries to explain anything that doesn’t make sense to humans. Sometimes those explanations are valid, and sometimes they are just weird!

The truth is that some things are inexplicable. Some things don’t make sense and won’t make sense this side of heaven. We hope that God will help us understand in hindsight, and sometimes He does. But just as often, maybe more often, that is not the case. You and I need to make friends with mystery. Yes, God is a God of miracles, but He is also a God of mystery. Saying YES to God means that we also say YES to confusion.

There will be circumstances along your YES adventure that you didn’t plan for, didn’t expect, and that don’t make sense. That loved one died after intense intercession for healing. The child you poured your life into for Christ walked away from the faith. The ministry you knew God called you to became a place of intense pain and disappointment. Some “whys” won’t be answered in your lifetime. So, what does it look like to say YES to confusion?

It looks like peace amid trauma and tragedy. I hope you never need to say YES to that, but there are no guarantees. “The rain falls on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). It looks like calm when you find yourself with an unexpected car repair and a larger-than-budgeted bill. It looks like grace and forgiveness toward the ministry co-worker who is down-talking you behind your back. It looks like accepting pain and disappointment as part of the journey and trusting that God is at work, even though it seems impossible that He could be.

Dear friend, confusion is part of the human experience. It is unavoidable. It is a challenge each one of us will face. Saying YES to confusion is part of saying YES to God and His future for you. Risk and uncertainty are part of the adventure. Are you ready to accept the God of mystery as well as miracles? It may not be easy, but it is worth it. Let’s take this part of the journey as well. Say YES to confusion. Say YES to the God of mystery. Then you will achieve all God has for you to achieve.

A YES Lesson from Mary: Trust God with Your YES

November 15, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

The YES Adventure is a life of saying YES to God. One of the best biblical examples of someone living the YES adventure is Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The Scriptures tell us a lot about Mary, especially in the book of Luke. Luke refers to “eyewitnesses” and “careful investigation,” and some scholars believe there is a good chance that Mary was a primary source for his gospel narrative. That would make the account of the birth of Jesus that many people read every Christmas Eve an accurate description of the events. If she was a primary source, then much of what we read about Mary in Luke can be considered firsthand information.

In Luke 1:38, Mary gives the answer that begins her YES adventure. She says, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (ESV). Other translations say, “as you said” or “may your word to me be fulfilled.” Your YES adventure and mine begin the same way. We put ourselves completely in God’s hands and say “God, do what You want with me.”

We all know the story of the angel Gabriel coming to tell Mary that she had been chosen, out of the thousands of young Jewish women in Israel at that time, to become the mother of God’s Son. Put yourself in her shoes for a minute. This young Jewish girl, doing her best to follow God, living according to the cultural norms of her day, betrothed by her father’s plan, doing the things that were expected of her.

Suddenly, she experiences an event way outside the norm. An angel visits her. An angel! She recognizes God at work but is most likely shocked at what the angel proposes. A baby? In the betrothal period, she was considered Joseph’s wife, but the marriage would not be consummated until the end of that period. How would she explain a baby? How could she convince anyone that it was God’s baby? How would Joseph react? How would her family react? What would happen to her?

She could be divorced, disowned, disgraced, even stoned to death. Yet, she didn’t let the questions stop her from saying YES. She accepted whatever may happen as the result of her YES without knowing what those consequences would be. She placed herself completely in God’s hands.

You must be willing for God to use you. Think about young Mary when the angel Gabriel appeared to her. She was frightened, but he told her that the Lord was with her, and she had found favor with God (Luke 1:28–31). God’s presence was the remedy for her fear. It’s the remedy for your fear and mine as well. When you and I believe that God is with us, that He is guiding us, that He is in control, our fear diminishes. We become aware of His guidance and encouragement and can face the questions ahead. When I am willing for God to use me, I overcome fear by believing in the promise of His presence.

When I am willing for God to use me, I choose to trust Him with my questions. Mary asked some questions about how it was all going to happen. She accepted the angel’s announcement that she would bear the Messiah, but she was trying to figure out how it was all going to work. It didn’t make natural sense.

She knew who she was. She knew her current limitations. She didn’t stop believing what Gabriel said, she just asked how. She accepted his answer, “The Holy Spirit will . . . overshadow you” (Luke 1:35).

Well, that explains everything, right? If I were Mary, I would be thinking, That doesn’t explain anything. Yet Mary accepted it. Even though the details didn’t become any clearer, she chose to trust that God would do what He said He would do regardless of her questions about how He was going to do it. You and I can do the same.

When I am willing for God to use me, I allow God to change my plans. Let’s keep thinking about Mary. She was an ordinary Jewish girl following an ordinary Jewish betrothal plan. The introduction of an unplanned, miraculous pregnancy totally upset her normal life. Her plans to set up a home with Joseph, the way all her friends and family before her had done with their betrothed, suddenly went out the window. There was no pattern to follow. No way to know what would happen next. No way to imagine the future. She simply had to trust that God knew what He was doing and would make it all happen as He chose.

You have been there, and so have I: those moments when God throws a monkey wrench into your plans. Mary shows us what to do: Say YES, take the next right step, and let Him work it out as you go forward.

“I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38).

When ordinary people accept whatever God says, they take the opportunity to participate in His purposes. Mary has been a life example for me of what happens when we say YES to God. Her response to an announcement that scared her and presented lots of opportunities to make wrong choices was to believe God’s promise that He would be with her and that He truly wanted to use her. She chose to trust Him with her questions, to allow Him to change her plans, and work out His plans. When I approach decision-making from that perspective, I can choose with confidence and trust God for the results.

What about you? Are you willing to be used by God? You, my friend, have the opportunity to participate in God’s purposes. The right choice is always YES first. You can trust Him to help you with all the other choices after that. Let Him fill your tray with a feast of satisfaction, the fullness of His presence. Bon Appetit!

God is so much more concerned about my willingness to do what He asks of me than whether I make the right choice. The adventure is in the choosing. When my heart is pointed toward Him, I choose and trust Him to lead me to the next leg of my journey because The YES Adventure is a journey, not a destination. Why not start your adventure right now?

Opportunities to Explore

November 8, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Sometimes God closes doors so that we consider options we never expected. When things don’t work out as planned or our chosen opportunities don’t open, our brains keep trying to “solve the problem.” That’s often when our creativity kicks in. We may discover a solution that we never considered before.

As I write this, an opportunity is not working out as planned, and I am considering options I had not before. What is my next YES, and where will it take me?

Pursuing Faithfulness

November 1, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Whatever else God may be calling you to do, my friend, above all, He calls you to be faithful. To be faithful is to be consistent. Be someone others can count on; someone God can count on. Count on yourself to show up for your calling. Commit to fulfilling the dream God put in your heart, no matter what.

How faithful have you been in your daily time with God? Fulfilling God’s purpose for you is about being His, remember? Being His means being faithful to make your time with Him a priority.

Have you been faithful listening to His voice through His word and His Spirit? Faithful listening means taking time to discern if you are hearing Him, or your own heart.

In Your Hand

October 25, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

In Your Hand

Moses is one of the greats of faith. Revered by Jews and Christians. Spoken of by unbelievers. Moses. Moses. Moses.

Moses talked back to God and basically said, “Find someone else for the job.” (Exodus 3) He gave all kinds of excuses to try to talk God out of sending him to Pharaoh. But God, being God, would not relent. He chose Moses, and Moses it was going to be.

When Moses finally got on board with God and said, “Okay! Okay! I’ll go” he asked God for a sign to prove to the Israelites, and to Pharaoh, that God had sent him. I don’t know what Moses was expecting, but God’s response was, “What’s in your hand?”

What was in Moses’ hand? His shepherd’s staff. God said He would use that. God took something ordinary Moses had used every day for years and made it extraordinary.

That staff eventually turned into a serpent before Pharaoh and his magicians. That staff, dipped into the Nile, turned the river to blood. That staff was lifted above the Red Sea and prompted it to part. Two million souls, with their animals and belongings, walked across the sea on dry ground.

What was in Moses’ hand? Nothing special. Just his old familiar tool. Just the thing he’d used for years. Just the thing he would never have expected God to use. But God did use it and delivered His people from 400 years of bondage. God used what was in Moses’ hand to accomplish His mighty purposes.

Calling Confirmed

October 18, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Let’s settle this right here and right now. You are called! There is no question about that. If you are saying, “Called? Me?” Yes! You!

Every person on the planet was created with a purpose. Every creature of God has a calling. That includes you!

No person’s calling is better or higher than another’s. Every calling is valuable.

The important thing is to discover what it is and fulfill it. That is your divine potential. Your divine destiny.

You want to say YES to God? Saying yes starts with hearing God, right?

YES is a response. We don’t say it without a reason! So, what are we saying YES to? A calling? You might say, “Isn’t that only for pastors and other spiritual leaders? God hasn’t really called me, has He? And if He has called me, then what am I supposed to do?”

Let me affirm something. God is calling you!

Yield, Not Stop

October 11, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Our American culture does not value slowing down. Everything is always, “Advance!” or “Full speed ahead!” and “Victory, Victory, Victory!”

How many times while driving have seen a yellow light and sped up to get through it? Come on, be honest. Okay, so maybe you haven’t done it, but I’ll bet you’ve seen other people do it, right?

We don’t want to slow down. We don’t want to evaluate. But that is what happens when we find our circumstances taking a slow turn. How we feel and the reality of our current circumstances rise to the top. We ask ourselves questions that we’d rather not think about. We are faced with realities that we would rather avoid. We feel like slowing down is actually stopping. It isn’t.

Doing it Afraid (Book Excerpt)

October 4, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Fear. Fear is probably the number-one obstacle each of us needs to overcome. You may think you aren’t afraid, but I guarantee there is some kind of fear whispering in your ear. Fear shows up in a variety of ways, and it isn’t always obvious. You may not even recognize fear.

You may talk yourself out of something because you don’t believe you can do it. That is fear of failure. You may think you are being practical and realistic. You may tell yourself that you are being honest. But the truth is very likely that you just don’t want to take the risk.

I know. This one is me. Fear of failure is the fear that most often stops me from trying something. I’ve come a long way. But it still whispers in my ear. “What if . . . ?”

A Framework for God-Centered Goal Setting (Book Excerpt)

September 27, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

So now that we have removed some obstacles, let’s set some goals. Here’s our simple framework: Ask, Aim, Act, Achieve.

Ask

Reflection is a key to discovering your MORE. Look back over your answers to some of the questions in this book. Then, answer these:

· What has God been revealing to you?

· What do you know about yourself now that you didn’t know before?

· What are some things you want to accomplish that line up with your personal purpose?

· How do you want to grow forward?

Think back and consider. Make sure to evaluate every area of your life, personally and professionally. Goals are about growth, right? How do you want to grow? Don’t just go forward. Grow forward!

Your next step is to think ahead and let the Holy Spirit inspire what you envision for your life. Take out a sheet of paper and make a list of things you want to accomplish. Just let your dreams lead you. Don’t listen to any negative self-talk. Let purpose, passion, and the Holy Spirit guide you.

So, my dear friend, here is what I want you to do in the next few moments. Open a document or get a piece of paper and do a brain dump. Write out everything that comes to mind. Don’t edit now. Do that later. Just dump everything out of your brain and into your document. Write out the one thing you believe God has called you to do that has scared you to death but has called your name time after time. Like an echo in the dark, that thought has enveloped you for a long time. It’s a thought that won’t go away.