Let Your Yes Be Yes

One of the things I do is make travel arrangements for groups going to Ghana, West Africa. In the fall I hired a company, Tour Monde, http://www.tour-monde.com/quote/en/index_one_way.php,to meet a group at Dulles Airport and transport them to Berea, Kentucky. On the day of the trip, after already having been paid, the salesperson, David, called to tell me that they had underbid the trip and would not do it. They would, he said, refund my money and cancel the contract. Any attempts to talk to him about how unethical this action was fell on deaf ears. They simply did not care. They wanted an additional $1750 or they would not live up to the terms of their contract. As I talked to David, I felt anger and frustration mount. They did not care that I had 27 people on their way to the airport. I began to pray for peace, for God’s favor and intervention.

I had an estimate from another company who was willing, on extremely short notice, to take the trip. It still cost more than I had originally budgeted but the difference between the companies was marked! This company, Beverly Tours, out of the Washington, DC area, was an answer to my prayers. I was able to call Tour Monde and tell them to refund my money. At the same time, I was greatly disturbed. It’s not just a matter of bad business for a company who obviously had not done due diligence prior to giving a quote to dishonor their contract. It speaks clearly about their lack of integrity. And as God does, God began to speak. Matthew 5:37 says ‘simply let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes,’ and your ‘no,’ ‘no’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

We live in a world where yes means maybe! As people of God we cannot follow the patterns of this world. While it is my prayer that my clients will cover the difference I had to pay to get the bus, if they don’t, I have to believe that God will honor me and provide the funds in another way. As a professor, minister, mother, wife, friend, my ‘yes’ has to mean yes. It’s not always convenient to honor your commitments. Doing what we say we will do is going to cost us something. But in the end, isn’t it better to pay the cost and be blessed than it is to go back on our word and have our witness damaged?

Today, as you go about your work or play, let your yes be yes. Anything less than that comes from the evil one.