One of the first words a baby learns is the word “No”. It flies out of their mouth one day and you look up in sheer joy because your child is talking. You happiness over your child talking quickly becomes frustration when every other word uttered is “No”. The cute factor changes into determination as you teach your child other vocabulary options, which most probably will include the word “Yes”.
As an adult I am quick to say “yes” to many things in my life as my people pleasing personality rules my mind and decisions quite often. I realize that a balance is needed between my yeses and noes to temper my life and the pendulum that leans heavily to the people pleasing side. But life is not always controlled by us. In fact life is not ours to control at all.
I know how life can change in the blink of an eye and it has nothing to do with how many times I have already said “yes”. Four years ago, I experienced a major life change with my job and my only choice was to say”yes” when my heart was screaming “no”. Losing a job at the end of your career and then being given one option to stay in your field resulted in disbelief, a confidence shift and upheaval that I pulled through only because the grace of God is bigger.
As I remember this day vividly and how things unfolded, I know now that this was one of the bravest things I experienced. Why brave, you ask? I soon realized the only way I could successfully move forward into this other job was to hang onto God as tight as I could. It was messy, ugly and a huge blow to my ego. But God… He rescues us when we come to Him in humility and believe that He is the only way back to strength, faith and confidence. When we accept His grace as the gift that it was always meant to be and allow it to wash over us as a sweet balm of healing, we learn we are accepted and loved deeply by our Father.
[Tweet “Wear the armor of brave faith, walk humbly with God and let Him lead you home. #bravefaith #write31days”]
Saying yes when we want to say no with our whole being is a lesson in faith. It is releasing our egos to God so He may bring healing in the midst of pain and struggle. It is wearing the armor of brave faith to walk humbly with God as He leads us to where He knew we needed to be all along.
Be brave in the journey and know God is the way home!
Mary
A beautiful testimony, Mary! Your experience speaks profoundly on so many levels. Thank you for sharing.
God has been so good to me and shows me this in difficult situation as well as easier ones. My job change was one of the best things that happened to me but at the time it was an extremely difficult change. Thank you for cheering me on, June! You are a blessing!
Being brave by saying yes when you want to say no. I had no choice when I was in the military to go to Afghanistan, but my attitude had to be brave. I couldn’t move forward without putting on a brave face. Sometimes it is hard, but in the end it is worth it.
I want to thank you for serving our country in this way. Putting on a brave face had to have been one of the hardest things you have ever done. Saying yes in this situation had to have looked so different than most yeses I have ever faced. Glad you joined in the conversation today.
I think it goes the other way too…sometimes we have to say no when all we want to do is say yes. So much THIS: “When we accept His grace as the gift that it was always meant to be and allow it to wash over us as a sweet balm of healing, we learn we are accepted and loved deeply by our Father.” Looking back, to two years ago, I was discerning and God called me to where I am today. I had other ideas in mind, but God knew where I was needed and where my gifts would be best utilized.
He IS THE ONLY WAY HOME! You are in my “read five” today. What a joy! xo
Amen! God’s words are true and sure. Blessings on your day and week!
I love the image of being brave by holding as tightly as we can to God because it is His grace that will see us through. It makes being brave easy, hard.
Let’s hold tightly to God today so He may lead us bravely to Him. Thank you for being here today.
LOVED that last line. Great reminders in your post today 😀
So good to have you here today. Let’s walk bravely today toward yeses and noes that honor God first, others second and us third.
Mary, you write for me too here:”I realize that a balance is needed between my yeses and noes to temper my life and the pendulum that leans heavily to the people pleasing side” because it’s always been a huge problem for me to have to ‘let people down’ as I’ve seen it. But without that necessary soul care we’re in danger of being run ragged by the demands of others and missing God’s best for us. Leaning and relying on God alone can feel scary when we crave concrete ways to move forward, but little by little He feeds our faith, accepts our attempts at being brave and grants us glimpses of the good things He has planned for us to receive. This is a beautiful word in due season. Thank you! 🙂 x
I need these words too and God knows that when He provides the opportunity to share on this page with others. I am quick to say “yes” in my own life and I am realizing that I need to pray first and consider whether this is my “yes” or God’s. Praying we all are able to lean on God to know what the answer is to life’s hard questions. Hugs friend!
Oh yeah, THAT’s brave. Any change, any transition, any surprises in this season … to ride through it with grace and courage … that’s brave.
And look where it’s brought you, Mary!
;-}
God always knows what He’s doing and this is no exception. My job now is to let Him lead and reveal in His own way. Let’s ride this together with grace and peace as the wind on our backs. Love you!
Saying no definitely feels more natural most times. But when we say yes, God can do amazing things!
Here’s to amazing things from God today and everyday. May our yeses match God’s and our noes be blessed by Him. Good to see you today. I will be praying for you as you go to Cambodia this week.
I’ve had to say YES when I wanted to say NO several times the last ten years…it was very difficult but, like you, caused me to LEAN on the One who was in control anyway. Beautiful post, Mary. ♥
Leaning on God is brave and what He desires us to do. Those yeses and noes can be so hard but not when we allow God to walk through the messy with us. Good to see you here today. Praying you are doing well.