Welcome back to 31 Day to Less Stress! Today, we will continue our topic of reducing stress by recognizing our freedom from yes and the power to say no!
How often do you feel obligated to say yes and take on more than you can handle? Church needs a Sunday School teacher, the school needs a library volunteer, a fundraiser needs a chairperson, the PTA wants a treasurer, the list could go on and on. It is so easy for us to fill our schedule with activities. Many of the activities may be good things, but what sacrifices will you need to make to do them, or will you be able to give them enough attention to do them well.
We can get so caught up in saying yes because we don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings or we feel guilty or we have such compassion for a particular group. But taking on too many good things can become a bad thing. In her book Seven, Jen Hatmaker describes life as a circus, saying, “We’ve been a sorry bunch of clowns, running around like idiots, cramming into cars, driving in circles and getting nowhere.”
Have you felt like that? We keep saying yes and adding to the chaos. What’s the point?
Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” Paul gave this directive to bondservants. We have made ourselves bondservants to man by seeking their approval. Paul calls himself a bondservant of Christ in Romans 1:1. If we looked to do everything for the Lord would we have the power to say no?
In Jeremiah 29:11-13 God says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come pray to me, and I I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your hear.” What if we seek God with all our hearts and ask Him to reveal His plans to us. Will we have freedom from yes so that we only do the things God has called us to? Then we can work heartily on the plans God has for us.
O God, grant us freedom from yes so that we do not make ourselves bondservants to man. Let us instead seek you with our whole hearts so that we can discover the future and hope you have planned for us.
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