“Yes” seems to be the popular thing these days. When did it become so wildly attractive to be busy? Isn’t it funny that when asked, “busy” seems like a socially acceptable response, and “I have some time on my hands,” would be labeled “sad”? It’s as if “busy” means you are winning and having space in your life means you are missing out.
After my daughter’s health complications, I felt scattered, and my husband had one request: say no to everything for a year. Everything: don’t lead anything, participate in anything, work towards anything…no, to everything, for a year. While it seemed extreme, he can often sense what I need before I can recognize it myself, so I agreed. It was a year of no. But the year of no cut the cord of the perpetual yes to which I had become accustomed, and guess what it did? It gave me the space to choose my yes.
Before I could say yes, I had to say no. The no’s freed me from involvement in good things that were not meant for me. It allowed me the space to find my yes.
What I discovered is that my best yes was to my God. When my yes was placed solely on Him, I found I had different priorities for my kids. I looked at my time differently — that year of no changed everything. So I am asking God to fill my days, weeks, and years with yes’s to Him: operating in His goodness, filled by His Spirit, and directed by His hands.
I am asking Him to show each of us how He would have us participate, teaching us, in His kindness, how to live and breathe in each moment. I am asking that He whisper truth to our ears and move in our hearts because in Him we find the greatest treasure, and it can be ours no matter our circumstance, our past, or our future.
Find your yes. This is the free life, a life of yes to the things that are mine to participate in, and no to what may be someone else’s. This may be the life you never knew you always wanted.
