As human beings, there’s nothing we like better than a resounding definite maybe. After all, we can hope the maybe turns to yes. We can imagine the many ways that our maybe can become a reality. We play with all the “if” and “then” scenarios we can think of. Yes, “maybe” means we are on the way to the goal. 

I remember that as a kid, I thought maybe meant things were going to happen. After all, when mom said, “no” you could be sure that was it. No was the blockade that you couldn’t get through, but maybe was a chance, an opportunity to keep trying to convince mom that what you wanted was valid. After all, if she didn’t understand why your request was important, how could she say yes? It wasn’t her fault really. She just needed help to turn that maybe into yes. 

I suspect that I might not be alone in this particular word play of youth. Many of us lived on the possibility that maybe could become a reality. So here we are, all grown up, and I wonder how much we still rely on the hope that only comes with a maybe. In a world that’s full of indefinite philosophies, vague commentary, and downright deceptive rhetoric, how do we know what to trust? How do we know when to get past the polite maybes and get to the truth, get to the yes. 

If we look at past promises, most of us will find that those often came up short. The promotion you were promised at work turned into a layoff and you were out the door. The person who promised to love you forever ran off with someone else. Wheelers and dealers everywhere overpromise and underdeliver. 

So what if God was like that? What if God said, “If you just work a little harder, do everything I say to the letter, and never doubt Me, I’ll let you into heaven.” Well, some of us would try, but we couldn’t measure up. We’d surely slack off some days, bend the rules other days, and have a random skeptical thought. We’d blow the deal in record time. Fortunately for us, God didn’t give us a definite maybe kind of plan. He made it pretty simple.

He said believe in my Son and when it’s time, He’ll open the door for you so you can come back home. That’s it. I promise! Our hope then doesn’t rest in all the maybe’s we could conjure up out of whole cloth. Our hope doesn’t come from a “try to convince me of your worth” scenario. We don’t have to talk God into anything. He is the One who said, “Let your “yes” mean “yes,” and your “no” mean “no.” There’s not a hint of maybe in His deal. 

If you’ve been thinking about moving the needle from a definite maybe as it concerns your life from here to eternity, you might want to go for the “yes.” It will make a difference and there’s no maybe about that.