If you are just joining in, we are in the middle of a 31 day series on Living with Purpose.You can join in from day one HERE.
Let’s just chat about a subject that’s eating at me right now. It’s one I’m struggling with and one I know God is saying “girl, you need to take a look at this.” How do I know that? Because everywhere I turn — devotionals, friends, pastors, blogs — the topic is the same “just say no.”
About this time every year I begin laying out my goals, dreams, and purposes for the upcoming year. So, I’m already thinking about my 2012 calendar. Are you? I’m praying through what needs to stay, what needs to go, and how it all lines up with my purpose. As I look at where I’m headed, it is overwhelming. I think that’s why God is stirring up the “just say no, Alene” within me.
Do you wonder how you can live on purpose if you’re saying no to great things? Do you think you have to say yes all the time to live life to the fullest? Well, saying “NO” is a more productive answer for us to live on purpose. Just because something seems good, doesn’t mean it is our “yes”. Maybe it’s meant for somebody else’s purposeful “yes.”
Are there times when we need to say “yes”? Yes! When those interruptions come that we’ve talked about the last few days, sometimes friends and family need our YES right then and there to get through the situation. However, I don’t think those are the Yes’s that throw us off our purpose. It’s those yes’s we throw around so freely that get us off track.
When we don’t take the time to think through what we are saying yes too, we then become overwhelmed by our yes’. So maybe what we consider interruptions sometimes are just the stresses of us saying yes to things that weren’t meant for us.
When we become more conscience of saying “NO”, then we begin to live life on purpose.
Check out the other 31 Dayers HERE.
Amen! I'm there, as I am around this same time each year, seeking God on what stays and what goes so that I'm aligned with Him.
Thank you for sharing!
Very well said. I say just because it is good doesn't mean that is where God wants us to be.
love it!!!!
Love it. Yes, we have to keep growing and moving on. But take time to be still and listen to where and what He wants us doing. I'm way to good at doing my own thing, if you know what I mean!!!
God has been telling me to say no too. My schedule has been so busy it has stressed me out. So when someone called me to serve somewhere the other day I told them no. It felt good. We can get overwhelmed and stressed with doing things that seem good.