I still remember feeling jealous of the fuzzy tiger that my brother proudly displayed on his dresser. Once a year on our family trip to New Smyrna Beach, we went to an arcade where we earned the pale red paper tickets that possessed the power to purchase treasures hanging from a pegboard in the back. A huge glass case seemed to tower over our child-sized statures. With noses pressed to the glass, our breath fogged the pane as we fondled the tickets in our sweaty palms.
Each year I would leave the arcade with several pieces of hard pink bubble gum and a smile from a great day. I remember being shocked that for three years in a row, this brother of mine saved his tickets. What a great investment of patience it was as his fuzzy tiger was displayed in his room for many years to come.
Oh, this wasn’t just any regular tiger. His head was placed on his neck in such a way that if you tapped the top of his head, he would nod at you for at least thirty seconds. One of my elementary school guilty pleasures was to sneak into the forbidden room and watch that tiger nod his head up and down repeatedly. As I made eye contact with the tiger, his motion seemed to tell me “yes, yes, yes.”
The last few months I keep feeling in my heart that God is wanting His children to know that the answer is yes. What are you asking your heavenly father for? Healing? The answer is yes. Finances? The answer is yes. Laughter? Freedom? Peace? The answer, my friend, is yes. When Jesus walked this earth, people asked for healing and peace of mind, and He reached out to them with a yes. His ultimate yes to us was when He hung on the cross and said yes to us enjoying eternal relationship with God and abundant life here on earth.
As we look to Him—just like I zeroed in on that tiger—and get His rhythm, our eyes lock with His and we answer back to Him, “Yes, yes, yes.” We want to obey and do it His way. He is a good Father who can be trusted. When we have a relationship with Him, out of our love for Him we say yes to what He says yes to.
I asked my granddaughter what she would want for Christmas if I could give her anything. Leaning in to hear her answer, my heart immediately wanted to do everything in my power to grant her wish because I love her so very much. You can bet that candy-filled piñata she asked for will be waiting under the Christmas tree.