I Say Yes...Before I Even Know the Question
Ayisha and I sipped our usual chai tea with a piece of carrot cake half eaten next to our open Bibles—hers in Arabic and mine in English. Our forks waved in the air, dancing to the excitement of a discovery that we both wondered if we could obey.
I had just read out loud, “Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. He replied, “Here I am” (Genesis 22:1).
Ayisha protested, “Here I am sounds like you’re saying, ‘Yes? Hello, I’m over here.’ In Arabic, this is translated as one word: labayek.” She pointed to the Arabic script as if I could read it, pushing away her Muslim hijab covering cascading onto the book. “It’s a strong word of allegiance to the person saying your name, and a willingness requiring total obedience. It means, ‘I say yes, before I even know the question’.
I sunk my fork into the carrot cake. Yes, before I even know the question. Did I trust God that much?
That night, I found that the original Hebrew word for here I am matched the idea of labayek completely. It’s an offer of total availability—an answer that requires action, surrender, and sacrifice. Abraham said labayek before he put his son on the altar. Moses said labayek before he went to Pharaoh to plead his people’s case. Isaiah said labayek before he uttered, “Send me”. Jesus said labayek before he went to the cross. Answering laybayek, here I am, costs something.
Very soon, my life skidded to an abrupt standstill as I cried labayek to God.
My here I am came with great personal cost. I entered a desert season, walking away from a close friendship, purpose, and a community that I loved. I died to myself in that season, strapping myself to Abraham’s altar, Moses’ burning bush hot to my face, the coal of Isaiah touching my lips, the pain of the cross before me, and the whispers of labayek my driving motivation.
After the action that follows a genuine here I am, we may see the fruit from our total willingness to obey God. Abraham saw his grandchildren born through Isaac. Moses marched across the Red Sea with his people free. Isaiah spoke on behalf of God. Jesus rose from the dead.
For me, years later, my husband and I found ourselves living in a bright green house in India, in the middle of a million unreached and unengaged Muslims in a chaotic, colorful, coastal city by the sea. Love, community and purpose abounded.
Whenever I sip chai tea, or bite into carrot cake, I smile as I think of Ayisha and labayek. She let the Word of God speak to her, so she could let it speak to me. And obeying it changed the course of my life.
Would you be willing to say “yes” to God before you knew what he was asking? Stop and reflect on what your life would look like if you were able to trust God with such reckless abandon and simply answer, “Here I am”, to his call?
Are you asking your cross-cultural friends to read the Bible with you like this? Do you want to make a cross-cultural impact, just like if you lived overseas? Or practice here, for when you move there? Get on the Waitlist for the deep dive Neighbors & Nations Course, which you can do on your own time, anytime, from anywhere, for a lifetime. I know you’ll be encouraged…and you’ll soon be meeting with an Aiysha of your own.
