Just Say No

There are times… Yes there are times in life when to say yes is easy but other times it is giving in. Other times saying no is the most difficult decision you have to make and on top of that you just don’t get to say it.  A long time ago I heard a line that has come to mean a lot to me. I read somewhere that there are only two answers in life, yes and no.  It concluded with this statement, ‘if it’s maybe, it’s really no’. 

Most of us have been at a store and had to listen to a mother, or father, repeat over and over again, ‘no, you can’t have that!’ Wait, you probably have been that parent, (or the child). Here is the reply that gets me the most. “NO and that’s final” only to notice a few minutes later this twenty five year old child has a grin from ear to ear because there they are with item in hand. To which I do a very silent AAAAAAAHHHHHHH. And I wonder if it’s just a game the child is playing. “See, if I just keep pushing, they’ll give in”. “I can wear them down and get what I want”. Maybe it’s time to define wants and needs.

Here are two questions you might ask yourself to justify your answer.  Is it right to let them have what they want all the time? Or secondly, if we say no, is that just because I want to exert my parental authority? Now these are not the only two questions we ask but they are important. What do you say to a child who wants it all? Are we preparing them for a fall when they don’t get their way and don’t get what they want? That is a concern. After all, we want to prepare them for the real world.

My daughter sells cars and there are times when young people (and older young people – and I know who you are) who come in to buy a nice shiny new car. Picked which one they want. Nice red one please. Then the word comes back, they don’t qualify for the loan. And of course the bank is the ‘bad guy’. Unfortunately for a few, it is the first time someone has said no to them…

So here is something to think about. Which reply is easier for God to say to you? Yes or No? And don’t quote to me, “Ask and it will given to you, press down and shaken together”. You know as well as I do, God is a loving God who answers three way. There is yes, no and wait. And they are all good as He prepares us for our life eternal. He knows our every need even before we ask. For what God really gives to us with a YES, YES, YES, is everything we need to help us get to heaven in one piece.

Something to think about

Rob

That Age!

I didn’t like to hear what the doctor said, or the way she said it.  “You’re at the age you know”.  What? No! Thanks but no thanks. But I had to realize that what was told me was probably not only true but maybe needed to be said months or even a year before I heard it.
“You’re at that age you know.”
I needed glasses.  HA! And you thought it might have been something more serious. Something like a knee replacement or a bypass or even a brain transplant. No, I just needed glasses.  So, there I was, getting my eyes tested and accepting the inevitable. I was getting up there in age.
It wasn’t something terrible. In fact I didn’t mind the process. I even had people help me with picking out the frames. And as I stood there looking at all the choices before me I started singing, the first line of Johnny Nash’s song. “I can see clearly now, the rain is gone”.  I know, I know, the song is about getting past the pain. I was just singing it as it related to “you’re at that age you know”.
It was the same in my spiritual life as well, and probably in yours. As we get to a certain age all the things we know and understand about God become clearer to us. There is something about becoming mature in our faith. And it’s not just because we are at that age, but due to life lessons and all that life has taught us about oursleves and about a God who not only wants to be part of our maturing but part of our lives and where they are going.
It won’t be long until I meet Him face to face. And while I have time I wish to get closer and closer to Him. But I’m not yet at the point of craming for finals. But I am going to grow in Christ and live out the words of Ephesians 4:15,
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ.
Something to think about
Rob