KNOW and NO

Over this last week, I have had two themes consistently in front of me.  They've come through Sunday messages, devotional time, Bible study and even on the radio.  And today God took them from two separate concepts, "know who you are" and "just say no", to one complete concept: When you know who you are so you know when to say no.

Do you know who you are? Do you know who God has called you to be? Do you know those things, in this season of your life, that are God's best for you? Not the things that are good, or even godly.  But that are God's best for YOU right now? So often we get caught up in trying to be everything to everyone that we forget who we actually are.  We say yes because we know that PTO commitment, that church event, that community service project is a good thing.  And those things are all good.  Those are great things to be committed to, to be a part of.  But is that who you are? Is that where God has placed you? Is that God's best for you right now?

God has a specific plan for your life and who you are right now.  He has a plan and a purpose for this season of your life.  He knows what your current family, career and personal situations are and knows the limits and balance you should have.  He knows where you should serve.  He knows where you should lead.  And he knows when you should say no.

Twice in the last weeks, I've heard"When you know who you are, you know what to do."  Before today that phrase with so much truth had me thinking about the "doing".  Am I serving and leading in the right places? Do I need to "do" more? What do I need to "do" better.  But today, God brought it all together with this one thought: When you KNOW who you are, you KNOW when to say NO.

Sometimes the not doing is more important than the doing.  When you know who you are, you know those places that are good places, but that are someone else's places right now.  When you know who you are, you know what will put life out of balance.  When you know who you are and who God has called you to be, you don't need to do more because the contentment comes in knowing you're doing what's best.

Know who you are.  Know what to do.  Know when to say no.

Traffic Jam

Traffic.  Gridlock.  The stop and go.  The hustle and bustle.  The noise.  The frustration.  The chaos.  The madness.  It can kill the best morning mood and bring a grumpy end to a wonderful day.  And at some point you'll actually have to get in your car and drive...

Sometimes life leaves you feeling like you're stuck in traffic.  Home, work, church, school and community commitments keep us in a perpetual whirl of busyness.  We run here and there until we run ourselves ragged.  We're stretched so thin that our emotions teeter on the brink of either breakdown or explosion.  We live in a constant state of exhaustion, but continue to add commitments.  And then we wonder why we're having trouble hearing God.

In our efforts to be the best spouse, parent, friend, volunteer that we can be, we become consumed by busyness.  But, without really concentrated effort, God's voice is drowned out in the noise.  We live our lives the midst of the traffic, often forgetting there's an exit lane that can bring us rest and renewal.

We become so concerned with being committed to other people's good things, that we lose track of what the best things for us are.  We measure our value (because deep down it's what we think others are doing when they watch us) based on the number of things we can juggle at once while looking our best and wearing our best plastic smile.  All the while, inside we're exhausted wondering why on earth we committed to this.  And forget that God is counting the number of commitments we make to determine our value.  He's looking at how we're serving him.


And all God wants us to do is step out of the traffic.  Step away from the madness and the chaos and fix our eyes on him.  Stop over-committing to everything and starting committing to only those things that are God's best for us.  Take the exit off the busy highway and rest, re-energize, recharge, renew.  Slow down.  Say no.  Step out of the traffic.  Step out of the noise, where his voice is clear.

"Step out of the traffic.  Take a long, loving look at me, you High God, above politics, above everything." Psalm 46:10 MSG

The Nail in Your Wrist

There is a brilliant song on the radio now by a band named Sidewalk Prophets called "You Love Me Anyway"(click the link to hear it).  Every time I hear it, I'm overwhelmingly moved by the words.

As I question God's direction in my life, He loves me anyway.  As I complain about the circumstances I find myself in, He loves me anyway.  When I disobey, He loves me anyway.  When my faith is lacking, He loves me anyway.  But those are the things we know, right? Those are the things where we daily fall short.  So it's easier to believe that He loves me anyway, because those aren't the things that nailed Jesus to the cross...are they?

I think it's so often too easy to see our daily shortcomings as "small" things that we need to deal with, but not see them as significant in the grand scheme of sin.  Could my complacency today have been part of what put Jesus on the cross? Pilate was complacent, unwilling to make a decision, so he turned Jesus over to the angry crowd.  Could my pride today have put him there? The pride of the church leaders of that time couldn't accept Jesus for who he was.  They perceived Him as such a threat that they tried to end His ministry.  Could my greed be a reason he was nailed to the cross? Judas' greed drove him to betray Jesus.

I think, if I'm being honest, I've been the nail in His wrist.  I've been the thorn in His brow.  I've denied him publicly, but then begged for mercy in private.  I've been Judas' kiss.  But in ALL of it, HE LOVES ME ANYWAY.

If you question today if it's still possible for Him to love you, know that He does.  There is NOTHING so big, NOTHING so bad, no place too far.  God loves YOU.  God values YOU.  Run to Him.  Grab on to that love that washes over a multitude of sins.  He loves you anyway.