Saying NO to the Good Things

I’m a work in progress. Mostly, in progress. 🙂

Philippians 1:6  (NIV) ~ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

For the past several months I have been learning to say “NO” without feeling guilty.

That can be hard for a person who doesn’t want to hurt others feelings. Very hard.

It can be very difficult to change patterns of behavior that you have had for most of your life. That “people pleasing” gene.

I’ve learned that I have to say “NO”  to things that are good…in order to say “YES” to the things that should be my priorities. To obey GOD…and aim to please HIM first.

Like I said before, I’m a work IN PROGRESS. I still fail miserably at times.

At first, changes can cause feathers to ruffle. Yours and others. It’s okay though, if you are being obedient to God …

Saying NO to distractions that can become an idol. I’m not talking about statues and junk..I’m talking about real life IDOLS. Things and People that can take the place of GOD.

Maybe we don’t think of them as IDOLS…because they aren’t the GOLDEN STATUES that we seems to think of when we hear the word IDOL.

Let’s face it, we all have the potential for idolatry. We all have that thing or person that can easily become the most important “thing” in our lives. Controlling our thoughts, our moods, our lives. It can be our kids, our friends, our spouses,money, jobs, a tv show, food,our hurt feelings, phones, computer, sports…ANYTHING.

Deuteronomy 5:8,9a (NLT) ~ “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.

We have to be intentional every single day about putting GOD first and CENTER in our lives.

Maybe it is too much volunteering. Or maybe too much social media. Or maybe it is not seeking HIS will and not asking HIM before we say YES to something. Maybe it is putting friends before our spouses and children. Maybe it is saying YES out of fear of ruffling feathers if we say NO. Maybe just maybe it is laziness. Maybe it is not BEING PRESENT because of being distracted by our own choices. 

It can even be as simple as allowing texts or notifications from people you care about interfere with being present where God wants you to be at that moment. It is okay..I am learning..thanks to friends that speak truth in a bold way into my life, to let those things wait. Every text or notification does not require an immediate response. Especially if it prevents you from BEING PRESENT where you are. And for a person like me, I had to really discipline myself with this one. What could we be missing because we aren’t really there?

It is a choice.

Since my children have told me that they don’t read my blog… (YES, they told me. 🙂 ) , and since I don’t care if they do read this and see that I referenced them… (it’s not embarrassing), I have to share a text conversation that I had with my daughter just this morning about choices.

Daughter: “I hope I wasn’t tardy today because my friend made me go to the gym with her.”

Me:” Um. Made u? Your choice. Next time say no.”

Me:” U always have a choice. I hope u weren’t either. Be a leader not a follower. Love u.”

I share that with you only to show just how easy it is for us to choose. It wasn’t a BAD thing..

Shoot..I share it with you because I have done the same exact thing before.

IT IS A CHOICE.

To say NO to things that we know we need to say NO to. Even if it isn’t something seemingly harmful.

If we are constantly saying YES to every single thing then we can’t possibly be giving our very best to the things that GOD wants us to focus on.

What is it that you may need to re-think? What is it that you may need to weed out? What is it that is suffering because of too many wrong Yesses?

Just because it isn’t BAD doesn’t mean that it is GOOD. Meaning, Saying NO to the Good Things is sometimes necessary in order to say YES to the RIGHT things.

Until Next Time….A Work In Progress,