NO MA’AM!
I do not know about you but from time to time it is as if the word NO has been completely erased from my vocabulary! Zip, Zilch, Gone! Then replaced with, “Yes. I can do that,” or “Sure. No problem,” or the ever reliable, “No worries. I’ll just fit it into my schedule!”
Why is it so hard for some of us to say no and for others so easy? For one thing, I have learned the hard way that good is the rival of best. In other words there are so many good things we can do with our time but those good things can often distract us from spending our time on the best.
As women I think most of us can agree that we have schedules that are so jammed packed we hardly have the time for one more thing. Let alone the unexpected that God might send our way. There are many good things we can say yes to, but we have to learn to start saying yes to the best and starting saying the word NO more often.
Life is such a beautiful gift from God and when we spend it running from one activity to the next we truly miss so many special things. Sometimes even Gods will for our lives. Close your eyes and try to think of the last time you stopped and smelled the roses, enjoyed some quiet time to yourself, or gave God your undivided attention. If it has been a while it’s time for us to make some changes.
This may seem very challenging, or you may be thinking but everything in my schedule is important Nicole, what can I possibly eliminate? I can relate, I have said that several times! Here is my suggestion and we can do it together, let us practice saying NO together. On the count of three say it with me… 1, 2, 3, “NO!” Say it again and mean it, “NO!”
This change can start today with a simple word, NO. If we start to say NO more often we will begin to see that we have more time for the best and the unexpected that God sends our way. We will begin to focus more on God’s perfect will for our lives. Don’t believe me? Test this simple recipe and see what happens. Mindfully begin to say NO and you will begin to feel the weights fall off your shoulders.
Remember our lives are but a vapor on this Earth, “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that,” (James 4:13-15).
How about you? What good things do you need to say NO to today, to make room for God’s best for tomorrow?
If this article encouraged you, please share it with others. If it inspired you, you may also like Why Some Dreams Succeed and Others Fail and The “One” Supply.
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