For as long as I can remember my family has been going to the same spot on Indian Rocks Beach every summer. I have made many memories there, I’ve seen a sea turtle lay eggs, fished offshore in an inflatable dinghy, found shark teeth, played board games with family, laughed, cried, and grown up on this beach. Living in Florida all my life, I have come to realize that for Floridians, beaches have become very commonplace and sometimes taken for granted because they are always there. I think the same is true of one simple word, a word that so often is left unsaid and at the same time so often used without another thought…. “yes”.
Think about it, how many times do we say or not say “yes” to something? Maybe you said yes to your parents when they asked you to clean your room, maybe you said yes to grab coffee with a friend. Maybe you withheld a yes out of anger or fear of what might happen. Regardless of the scenario, the word “yes” has a lot of meaning and ultimately untapped power.
Recently, Life Teen came out with their new yearly theme: “Fiat”. Fiat has a lot packed into it and if you want to read more check out Life Teen’s blog. In the bible the Latin word “fiat”-- “let it be” is used multiple times. In Luke 1:38 Mary actually speaks this word when she gives her “yes” to the angel Gabriel. She says “let it be done unto me…” However, as Joel points out in his blog:
“fiat is not simply a ‘yes’ to God, it is a submission to the great things God wants to do in our lives. It is not laying something down, but it is picking something up. It is creative. It allows God to speak something new into our world. It allows us to bring Christ to others. It brings us on an adventure.”
In her fiat, Mary didn’t simply lay down her life but rather, offered it up to become the Theotokos or “God Bearer”. Her fiat created life within her, and the same is true of our own. When we say “yes” to God we allow His creative power to work in our lives. Now that may seem daunting. Saying yes to God can seem like the impossible, especially when we look at what He might be asking us to say yes to. But let’s take a look at the lives of the saints for some encouragement. St. Anthony of Padua had his life completely uprooted, his plans of being a missionary in Africa were drastically changed when he got ill. Instead, Anthony said yes to moving to Assisi, Italy. He said yes to serving the people there in the best way he could. Anthony said yes to giving a homily he did not think he was good enough for. He then said yes to St. Francis of Assisi to be a teacher for priests studying there. St. Anthony chose to consistently say yes to God, and by each little yes, his life inevitably became one tremendous fiat to the Lord, ultimately leading him to sainthood. Our great Saints didn’t become saints simply by making one giant yes to the Lord and calling it done. People like St. John Paul the Great, St. Monica, St. Augustine, St. Maria Goretti, they lived their lives making everyday small fiats to the Lord. They submitted to God’s will in their lives and by doing so, God was able to speak life into the world.
The same is true of us. God might call us to a giant yes one day, and I hope that if that is the case, we have the courage to respond with a giant fiat. However, more often than not, there are many little opportunities to say “yes” to the Lord, and each small fiat when added up, will lead us to making a tremendous fiat of our lives. We cannot take for granted our small everyday fiats. Every moment that we pick up what God is asking us to take on, when we submit in small ways to the Lord, we allow Him to create life, and draw us closer to heaven and sainthood. Each one of us is capable of making our lives an ultimate fiat to the Lord, so what is your small fiat today?