God Cheers Wildly For You and Me

Everyday we have to make important decisions and we have to know when to say “yes” and when to say “no”. At times, saying “no” isn’t easy, especially when we just don’t want to let someone down.

And, often, we give too many yeses to good things, but not best things. I watched a great example of this a few weeks ago. My son is an avid marathon runner. It’s one of the ways he stays fit and mentally strong. He runs at least twelve 26.2 mile marathons a year. He was all geared up, powered up, and strengthened up for the Seattle Marathon a few weeks ago. His 10-year old son, Brennan, asked him if he was going to be at his baseball championship game (at the same time as Ryan’s marathon). I heard him say to Brennan, “You know that I’ve been training very hard for this marathon and you know how important that is to me. Right?” Brennan replied, “Yes”. Then Ryan said, “So do you want me to cancel my marathon and come to your game?” Brennan’s reply again was “Yes”, so I know you know where Ryan was…..at Brennan’s game — and NOT at the marathon he had trained for.

After years of being unable to say “no”, I am choosier with my time and more intentional with what’s most important to me. And I’m discovering how a well-placed “no” opens the door for the right “yes”. But more than that, it has opened the door for opportunities of great experiences with my family, friends, and even great ministry opportunities. I am learning the best way to be as bold with my “no” as I am with my “yes”. I still don’t love the thought of letting someone down. But I realize my job is not to navigate a person’s opinion of me. My job is to investigate God’s desires for me. And the best way to do that is to wait prayerfully and believe my “no” makes room for someone else to say “yes” — someone who is better suited and better equipped to meet the need right now. God even cheers wildly for me….when I make the RIGHT decisions that He leads me to make!