I say yes because it’s easy.
I say yes because it immediately eases the tension.
I say yes because I don’t want to let her down.
I say yes because I want to be a supportive gal.
I say yes because I’m too wimpy to say no, even though a yes to something is sometimes a no to something better.
I think of my friend Kim who says,
“No may hurt for a minute, but yes can hurt for much longer.”
Boy howdy, if that ain’t the truth. Especially when that yes goes against God’s plan and sucks dry my time and energy that would be better spent on His assignment for me. Especially when that yes also means YES to anger and resentment. Sometimes, saying no to a good thing is the right thing to do.
How do you say no to a good thing when you know it’s the right thing to do?
You always ask the easy questions! Ha! 🙂
Well…I think it takes a lot of courage and initiative to say no to someone that I really want to say yes to.
If we filter our no through His plan, He’ll supply the courage for us. Here’s to an extra dose of courage for us both!
I remember what my grandmother always told me “No is a complete sentence”. So often we feel like we need to justify our decision to say no, when really it is often the best choice. saying yes to good doesn’t always leave room for God’s best. When I run each decision by Him, it is much easier to say no with confidence.
Thank you for this, Melissa. You are so right…running our decisions by Him first does make it easier to give a firm but gentle no. And you bring up a good point about justifying our decision to say no. I need to let my confident no just stand alone instead of tacking on all my good reasons for the no!
I struggle with now because I want to be able to do it all. The reality is that sometimes good things or even great things are not the best things. What are the best things? The things God is clearly calling you to do. My best help in this quest to say no, my husband. If he isn’t on board then I shouldn’t be either. God did give him the leader position in married and family life. So if he says no, then I say no. 😉