When Your No Should Be Yes

When Your No Should Be Yes

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

Colossians 3:23-24

I have the privilege of serving alongside female ministry leaders from churches big and small, across denominational lines, and from every corner of Minnesota. I left one of our meetings recently pondering one small part of the evening’s conversation. Two leaders were discussing the “epidemic of no”—this chorus of voices encouraging women to say no to any activity that doesn’t “fill them up” or renew their spirits or meet a specific need of their own.

“Based on this, who would ever clean the toilets?” one woman asked with a sigh as the conversation ended and our meeting began.

Her words bounced around in my brain for weeks after that meeting.

Believe me, as a person who loves to please others, I understand the need to say no to some obligations so that there is enough of me to say yes to the things and people who matter most. However, I’ve begun to wonder if perhaps we’re swinging too far in the other direction. Sometimes someone simply needs to clean the proverbial toilets—regardless of whether it is God alone who sees us bent over, scrubbing filth.

I’d rather do the dirty, unacknowledged task God has set before me, witnessed only by my Savior’s eyes, than the glamorous, fun task acknowledged by humans, but with my heart misguidedly seeking their approval and applause. It is our attitudes as we work that are far more important than any earthly recognition—remembering that we are working for God, not for people, and that he is the one who gives us our inheritance.

And let’s be honest, some of the most eternally important work is the stuff no one else wants to do, the stuff done without fanfare and in the shadows—the stuff that quietly supports another who gets the public glory. Are you prayerfully considering the requests on your time, talent, and treasure before saying yes or no?

—Julie

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

When you’re asked to do something you would normally say no to, pray about what God wants you to do, and then obey.