YES or NO?

Have you ever wondered about the thought process a person goes through when responding to an event on a social media site?  Recently, I was invited to an event on facebook and the options to choose from were YES, NO and MAYBE.  I started thinking about the word MAYBE and its meaning.  Webster’s Dictionary defines it as another word for PERHAPS.

Searching through the Rolodex of my mind, I used the word MAYBE quite frequently as a teenager to respond to an invite in hopes that a better offer might come along…  Don’t deny it, you have done it too.

Having raised two boys who were always asking questions, which required a YES or NO response, they quickly learned what their father’s responses truly meant.  If he responded with MAYBE, it really meant, “No, don’t even think about it because no way in heaven is it going to happen.”  If he said, “I will think about it,” it pretty much guaranteed that it would transpire into a YES.

I remember a shopping trip with my grandson, Ben, when he was three years of age.  He was sitting in the seat of a grocery cart and as I pushed him down an isle, he tugged on the sleeve of my blouse to get my attention and asked me, “Grandma, can I have chocolate?”  I responded with, “in a minute, Ben, grandma has to finish her shopping.”  More than a minute passed and again, Ben tugged at the sleeve of my blouse and asked, “grandma, can I have chocolate?”  My response was, “grandma needs to finish her shopping, Ben.”  As I turned the shopping cart to go down yet another isle, Ben placed both of his hands on my forearms, starred point blank at my face and said, “grandma, YES or NO?”  I have laughed over this story many times but the simple fact was, Ben just wanted a YES or NO answer.

I was just thinking, when we are waiting on an answer to prayer, God will in His time answer with a YES or NO. I don’t know about you but I’m sure glad He never uses the word MAYBE.