A Simple “No”
Are you good at saying “no”?
Verse of the Day
“But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.””
Today’s Devotional
Jesus healed a demon possessed man. He sent the demons into a herd of pigs, and the man was fully restored. Can you imagine the joy and elation of such a miraculous healing? It makes perfect sense that this man would then beg to go with Jesus wherever He was going. But Jesus said “no”.
Valerie Hess has some wisdom for us about saying “no”:
“The Bible begins with God bringing order out of chaos in the creation of the world. Even today God continues to work in the formless, empty darkness of our lives to bring the order of his kingdom to birth in them.
Years ago I copied down a quote by French theologian François Fénelon: “When we notice in ourselves eager desires for something in the future, and when we see that our temperament carries us too intensely to all that must be done, let us try to restrain ourselves from hurry, and ask our Lord to stop the haste in our hearts and the agitation of our behavior, since God has said Himself that His Spirit does not dwell in confusion.” Ouch!
While we could talk about this idea under the discipline of simplicity, it also involves the discipline of fasting. We cannot live a healthy life if we stuff our calendars with unlimited activity. One of the ways to partner with God in bringing order out of the chaos of our lives is to say no to (fast from) doing more activities than we can sanely accomplish in a day or week. We need to fast from the idea that we will miss out on something if we don’t say yes to everything! Jesus himself walked away from some people and situations to keep the priorities of prayer and the kingdom of God first in his life.
We are finite. We cannot do everything, we are not called to do everything, but we are to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness””
Earlier this year I read John Mark Comer’s book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. It was a very eye-opening book. It caused me to question the pace of my life, the authority I have given to technology (which must be taken back), and the power of slowing the pace of my life to match what Jesus modeled in the Bible. I still have a long way to go in breaking down the lie that my value comes from what I accomplish. Jesus told the man in today’s verse to go home and share the Good News of Jesus with his family. If Jesus told you that same thing today, would you be delighted or disappointed?
What if we exercised simplicity by asking God what we should say “yes” and “no” to? What if, when God directs us to say “no” to something, it is for the benefit of our family, or the people we are closest to? In today’s verse, Jesus wanted the healed man to share the Good News with his family. There are times when we are so busy that the people in our homes only get to experience the tired, grouchy, burned-out versions of us. As we seek God’s Kingdom first, let’s be willing to only say “yes” and “no” as God is directing us. And let’s be people who are unrushed and unhurried, sharing our joy and gratitude with those closest to us as a priority in our lives – which we can only do if we are not so busy with everything else.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
When have you said “yes” to something and later regretted it?
How would you describe your level of busyness?
How does it make you feel to think about saying “no” when you are asked to do something?
What activities do you need to fast from?
What would an unrushed, unhurried look like for you?