The Divine Yes by E. Stanley Jones

Since God recently said “No” to something we really wanted to happen, I was intrigued by the title of this book. Jones, a friend and contemporary of Mahatma Gandhi, was a Methodist missionary in India for many years.

This was Jones’ last book, written after a debilitating stroke. In spite of the fact that he could barely walk or talk, he praised God for sparing him. I cannot afford to be anything but grateful that He thought enough of me to give me this period at the end of my life to be a proof that what I’ve spoken about all my life – the unshakable Kingdom and the unchanging Person. (p. 85)

Jones continually reminds the reader that nothing that happens in a Christian’s life is for nothing. He writes, Pagans waste their pain. They don’t come out to anything, no dividend. But when it is divine pain, like the pain of the Cross, it is not wasted pain, but contributive pain – like the pains of a mother in childbirth. (p. 132)

Much of The Divine Yes was an encouragement to my heart so it’s hard to limit quotes, but here is just one more treasure:

Some people think if you come to Christ you surrender to being cancelled out. Cancelled? All you think and act and are become heightened by the heightened contact… It is the same surrender that ink makes to the author… It is the same surrender that a wire makes to a dynamo. Unattached, it has no light or power, but surrendered to the dynamo, it throbs with light and power . When you surrender to Jesus Christ, a plus is added to all you do and think and are. You do the things you can’t do and are a person you couldn’t be otherwise. (p. 61)