YES Changes Everything

May 4, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” Luke 5:5 NLT

I opened the large manilla envelope with excitement and amazement. I knew what was inside. The evidence of my YES to a ministry calling. The proof that I had obeyed God YES by YES through years of classwork, application, testing, and interview. I slid out the certificate bearing my name as a licensed minister of the Assemblies of God. As I held that hard-earned certificate, I found myself praying, “Okay, God. I obeyed You. Now what?” Now that I had that certificate, I had no idea how God wanted me to use it. So, I began to seek God for my next YES and another season of YES by YES began until He opened the doors He had planned for me.

Where has your YES taken you, my friend? Your whole life is a compilation of YES and NO.

When Peter gave Jesus his YES and threw the net on the other side of the boat, he began to compile a different set of YES and NO. That one act of obedience set the stage for a life he had not imagined. Much like pursuing ministry credentials changed my direction. What about you? How has your obedience made a difference? Why does YES change everything?

What Will Happen if You Say YES to God?

April 20, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” Luke 5:5 NLT

Do you sometimes struggle to say YES to God? I know I do. I want to see where my YES will take me before I give it. But obedience doesn’t work that way, does it? There is risk when we give God our YES.

Remember the story of Peter and his fellow fisherman? They had fished all night. The right time to fish. They were exhausted after a professionally exhausting and unprofitable night shift. Depressing daylight meant cleaning their empty nets and getting some sleep. Then, Jesus, the carpenter’s-son-turned-itinerant-preacher, gets into their boat, tells them to launch out into the deep water, and cast their nets IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY! Peter had every logical reason to turn down this teacher with no professional fishing knowledge. But Jesus’s obvious connection to God caused Peter to let the teacher become the fishing foreman. So, they launched out into the deep water and cast their nets in the middle of the day.

Something about Jesus’ character led Peter to say YES to an action that made no sense at all. And it worked. You know the rest of the story. They caught so many fish that their nets began to break. Peter’s obedient YES proved overwhelmingly profitable. But that was just the beginning.

Peter’s YES teaches me a few things. Maybe you’ll agree with me.

When you say YES you invite God into the situation. Peter’s obedience made room for God to get involved. The miraculous catch that followed Peter’s obedience opened him up to so much more.

Don’t Settle For Satisfied.

February 10, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.” Ephesians 5:17 MSG

Are you settling for satisfied? Satisfied sounds like a good thing, and it is to a point. But is satisfied fulfilled?

Satisfied is content with the current status. Is that you? Is that enough? There was a time in my life when that was me. I was satisfied but within was an unrelenting awareness that there was more. Satisfied may seem like enough, but is it achieving all that you are meant for? I knew that I wasn’t but wasn’t sure what to do next.

Fulfillment results from doing what you were created to do. Fulfillment comes from being the best you. Fulfillment is found in divine potential. That unrelenting awareness began to dissipate as I set out to pursue my purpose and potential.

Doing what is on your task list may seem like enough. When you check off each task you may feel satisfied. I know I do! But are you fulfilled? I knew I was not.

My challenge to you, Dear Friend, is to reach for fulfillment. Don’t settle for satisfied.

Why?

Know Your Purpose. Plan Your Time.

January 27, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.’ Ephesians 5:17 NLT

How often are you distracted by something that is calling your attention away from what you really want to be doing? Perhaps you are in the middle of deep work on a passion project. All the gears are clicking. The ideas are flowing. The strategy to accomplish this long-held dream is pouring out onto the page or your hands are busy creating what you see in your imagination. Then the phone rings. You hesitate for a moment and then you answer it.

The telemarketer on the other end of the phone doesn’t care that he just interrupted a moment of Spirit-inspired genius. He doesn’t care that you were in the middle of coming into the light after years in a tunnel of doubt. He is just trying to do his job, which is to convince you to buy what he is selling. An item you don’t need or want — like a new satellite TV system or gutter guards on the house that you added those to three years ago. All he cares about is selling to you and he doesn’t take no for an answer.

Finally, you realize that the only way to end this conversation will be to hang up on him. You hate the idea of that rude action, but there doesn’t appear to be another way. Your stomach is in knots. You politely tell him that you need to go and then you hang up the phone.

When you turn back to your project the gears that were clicking are still and silent. Your mind is a blank and your stomach is still in knots. All forward motion has ended. You decide that it's time to check the laundry, or some other everyday task, and walk away from your desk feeling defeated and frustrated.

Answering that call interrupted what you really wanted to be doing, what you feel called to do, and you wonder why you even answered it!

My friend, there are legitimate interruptions that have the same effect on your progress. Those are the ones you have to accept, resolve, and then do your best to get back on track after. Those interruptions are immediate and important. Like a backed-up drain that needs a plumber’s attention. I found myself in that position this week after an “aha” about what was preventing me from moving forward on a passion project. Even though I was motivated to move forward I had to stop. There was nothing else I could do about that. I didn’t have a choice about that interruption. However, you and I have control over plenty of the things we allow to interrupt us, like phone calls and text messages to name the most frequent offenders.

When you and I interrupt the important for the immediate we often squander one of our most valuable resources: TIME. What if there is a better way? Would you take it?

Know Yourself. Learn Your Purpose.

January 13, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

” Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.’ Ephesians 5:17 NLT

Do you know your purpose? You might have a sense of it, but could you describe it to someone else? Could you tell them (or yourself) in one sentence what God put you on earth for? When you discover your purpose and can clearly articulate it you will have a guide for how to spend your time. My personal purpose statement has helped me to hone in and schedule tasks. Sure, I get distracted at times and my focus gets a bit fuzzy. This has been one of those weeks. But, overall, having a clear sense of purpose has been a guide to help me keep making meaningful progress. If that’s something you struggle with, let’s talk!

So. Let’s start with finding your purpose. We can explore more about time in the future.

Discovering your purpose starts with knowing yourself. How well do you know yourself? I mean really. Do you truly understand your own personality, strengths, and weaknesses? How well can you articulate what you really want from life? From yourself? From others?

What if you made your goal for this year knowing yourself better? How might that give you clarity on the purpose you were created for?

Focus 2024 With Just One Word

January 6, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3: 12-14

When you look back at 2023 what do you see? For me and my family, it has been a year of BIG changes! Transitions aplenty! Everyone in my immediate family moved into a new home. Tom and I moved to a new part of our state and have entered into a new season of work. Not only did we experience the natural chaos that comes with a move, but we also spent five months in limbo as we waited for our new house to be renovated and ready to move into. It has been a season of settling on the inside even when everything was unsettled on the outside. We have grown tremendously. As 2023 closes, we are in the beginning stages of settling into our new life. But what does God have in store for 2024?

If you have followed me for a while, then you know that I like to end each year with reflection and start the new year with a one-word theme. Keep reading if you don’t know what I mean!

There are plenty of resources to help you reflect, and I like to make use of them, but here are some questions from me to get you started.

One Thing Yoda Taught Luke: Be Present in the Process

October 14, 2023 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” Psalms 105:4 NIV

Are you a Star Wars fan? No? Well, let me intrigue you and you might become one.

There’s a scene in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Yep! I am a Star Wars fan!) where Yoda, the Jedi Master, is deciding whether or not to train Luke Skywalker and chides him for a mindset that will prevent him from becoming the Jedi knight that he wants to be.

Yoda says, “A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away...to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing.” (“8 Creat Life Teachings from Yoda” StaWars.com accessed 10/12/23) Because Luke was always looking ahead, Yoda knew he would not be present in the process. Unless Luke committed to be present in the process, his progress would be limited. Did you catch that? Luke’s tendency to be far ahead in his mind, imagining what he wanted to be doing and where he wanted to be, would keep him from being fully present in the very thing that would get him there, his training. As his training begins, Yoda’s concerns prove to be correct.

What about you? Are you fully present right here and right now? Your dreams of where you want to be are important. They can motivate you. They can inspire you. But they can also distract you. If you are always in the future in your brain, but not present in the present you will miss the presents that are waiting for you here and now.

Don’t Just Dream It, Do It!

September 16, 2023 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.” Philippians 4:8-9 MSG

Why do we often stop at thinking about an idea or a dream and not do it? Who do you dream of becoming? What do you dream of doing? What are you doing about it? Having those dreams is great. But dreaming about those things must translate into action for transformation to happen. Don’t just think the best, do something about it.

Dear Friend, don’t discount your dreams. They are in you for a reason. The difference between dreamers who only dream and dreamers who live out their dreams is simple. The ones who live them out are the ones who do something to achieve them. What steps are you taking to live out the dream that God has put in your heart?

Have given yourself permission to dream? Then you are off to a good start. If you are disciplining yourself to think about what is best, good! Are you beginning to apply the truth of who God says you are to your life? Awesome! You are making progress toward becoming the person you were designed to be. Now it’s time to take a step further. It’s time to do something about achieving those dreams! Think the best and then take steps in the direction of that dream. Here’s how.

Take the Time to Make the Time

August 19, 2023 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV

Time. Is it your enemy or your friend? Do you find yourself struggling to find the time to do the things you want to do? Does time seem to be slipping away, the future becoming now without anything to show for the past? I’ve got you, my friend!

Time. We all have the same amount, but some of us seem to make more of that time. Some of us seem to be accomplishing our goals and dreams. Some of us just seem to have more time.

Well, it isn’t true. No one has more time than you do. They are just using their time in a way that enables them to get done what they want to do. They are discovering their more in the way they use their time. Wouldn’t you like to do that, my friend? Okay, then! Let’s get started!

How to Hear God Through The Voice of the Holy Spirit

July 15, 2023 Cathleen Zahradnik

"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me." John 16:13-14 NLT

When God speaks, I want to listen. But how do I recognize the Holy Spirit speaking to me? What about you? How do you recognize His voice? There is one thing I am confident of. Whether or not I recognize His voice, He is speaking. He is speaking through the voice of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit superintended the writing of God's Word and holds the "holy highlighter", but He is also the still, small voice that speaks the thoughts that won't go away. He whispers ideas and reminds us of what God's Word says. When I am in God’s Word regularly I give the Holy Spirit something to work with when He wants to speak to me. But how does that work and how do I know? It takes practice to know the difference between the Holy Spirit and my own thoughts and emotions. Not one of us is going to get it right every time. Only Jesus had 100% accuracy. Then how can we be sure?