God Wants to Hear Us Say Yes |
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One Sunday after church, the pastor found me and said, “Zach, we’ve been watching you and Crystal for a while now as you’ve been involved with the prison ministry and Celebrate Recovery. We’ve seen how much your family has grown and matured. We all feel like God has placed you here. We’ve been wanting to launch a new campus for a long time, but we’ve not been able to find the right fit for some of the leadership positions. We feel like with your story, you two can reach people we can’t. Zach, would you help us launch this campus by being involved with the worship and the music? Would you come on staff with us here part-time at the church?”
I had a lot of questions, especially about our past and how that would affect our involvement with the church staff. Plus, at that point, I didn’t consider myself a “worship leader,” either as a role or as a job title. To all my rapid-fire questions, the pastor just kept saying, “Don’t worry, Zach, we’ll figure that out.” Finally, he offered, “Starting out, we won’t call you a pastor, we’ll call you a director. There’s a full-time pastor you’d be working with.” The plan was to keep my construction job with Dad but also to have specific music responsibilities with this new service. Fast-forward — the church staff made it happen, and I helped them launch a new service called the Refuge.
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God just wants to hear each of us say yes. |
God just wants to hear each of us say yes. |
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A Unique Venue
The service met on the church campus in the basketball gym. Because of the people we were trying to reach, everything we did was a totally different style than what was happening in the main sanctuary. As soon as we launched the service, people began to show up. We were definitely hitting the target, as most of them were “outsiders” for various reasons: people who had never been able to find their place in a church, people who had never been involved in anything connected to a church.
Folks from Celebrate Recovery came, and also some of the inmates we had ministered to came after getting out of prison. To no surprise, considering my testimony, we also attracted a lot of musicians and bikers. The Refuge reminded me of Jesus’s parable in Matthew 22 where the king tells his servants to go out and invite the people off the street to come to his banquet — the good and the bad alike. - Just open up the doors, because everyone is welcome here.
I wanted to provide a place that the old Zach Williams would have been able to walk in and be welcomed, not judged. |
Learning to Say Yes
In that season of ministry, I learned one major lesson about God and how He seems to work, something I didn’t understand for so long. The biggest reason or excuse that keeps too many of us from saying yes to what God calls us to do is that we don’t feel “qualified” or “prepared.” We worry that we won’t have the right words to say or know what to do. We focus on what we can’t do instead of what He can do. Many of us try to ignore God’s voice when He just wants to hear us say, “Yes, Lord, I’ll do it,” and to simply trust Him for whatever is next, getting ready to go do whatever He says.
I learned through prison ministry and Celebrate Recovery that when I say yes to God, I may not have any idea what I’m going to do or say. But after the yes, He always works everything out and gives me the words. When the pastor came to us that day with his invitation, my first response was, “But I’m not qualified to do any of this. I don’t belong in leadership. This is not something I feel comfortable doing.” Yet when I stopped asking all the questions and just said yes, God Himself qualified me and gave me everything I needed. And He’s still doing that.
Because of the yes, the first time I led worship onstage was the first time I felt completely comfortable in my own skin playing music. After a decade of playing to thousands of people in the US and Europe in bars and clubs, to emphasize, that moment with God was the first time I felt completely comfortable playing music. That was because it was the first time I had truly submitted to the reason He created me. I realized that when I lead worship, the music isn’t about me. There is a vertical relationship happening.
Bottom line — - God just wants to hear each of us say yes.
And I’m here to tell you, there’s nothing else like it when we do. |
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Step out and say yes to God. Whatever He wants. Whatever He leads you to do. Just say yes and trust that He will fill in all the needs and requirements at just the right time! ~ Devotionals Daily |
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From Grammy Award winner Zach Williams |
Rescue Story: Faith, Freedom, and Finding My Way Home |
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+ FREE shipping on all orders $35 and more |
Before two-time GRAMMY Award winner Zach Williams penned heartfelt, faith-filled ballads like "Chain Breaker," "There Was Jesus (featuring Dolly Parton)," and "Fear Is a Liar," there was darkness. A rock-and-roll singer who thought he had all he ever wanted to make him happy, Zach instead felt empty. The drugs, alcohol, and late-night gigs played around the world couldn't satisfy the longing in his heart for a place to belong. He was desperate for change.
It came while on tour in Spain with his band, and in this powerful and poignant memoir, Zach shares in vivid detail his personal Rescue Story. He reflects on his childhood and the prophecy that kept his parents from giving up hope, his descent into the substance abuse that held him captive for so long, and ultimately the rescue he didn't think was possible but embraced with open arms. A compelling, honest story of God's unconditional love, grace, and redemption, Rescue Story shares the intimate journey of a beloved music artist and challenges you to seek resilient hope in the trials of your own life--because Jesus offers real freedom and joy, despite the mistakes of your past. |
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What Our Readers Are Saying |
"Loved it! Gave it to my husband and HE loved it! He gave it to our son, who really likes Zach Williams andcniw he's reading it! Great redemption story."
— Barbara O. |
"I absolutely loved this book! Zach has such an amazing testimony .I encourage everyone to read his book!!" — Brandy B. |
"Great read. So many people can relate to his story and because of that, it can give them the courage to seek God when at their lowest." — Becca |
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Untangle Your Emotions Online Bible Study |
Untangle Your Emotions Online Bible Study |
“Our emotions have a purpose, and that purpose is connecting us to God and each other. ” - Jennie Allen
You're invited to the Untangle Your Emotions Online Bible Study! Join us for a FREE Online Bible Study through Jennie Allen’s newest Bible Study and unpack what the Bible says about our emotions and learn the tools you need to embrace your feelings as a means of connection. |
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this devotion with someone who needs it today |
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