THE BEST ANSWER
Proverbs
19:20-21
Listen
to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Many are the
plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
“No”
is not a four-letter word. It is perfectly good to say no, yet not everyone
would agree. When my children were growing up they would complain that I always
said no to their requests. Of course that wasn’t true, sometimes I said, “ask
your mother” and even on occasion, “yes you may”. When I did say no, it was for
their benefit. I was trying to teach,
protect, or redirect their behavior or thinking. They didn’t always
understand and as they got older they even challenged my answer. Eventually they
learned to live with my decision.
Although
the men and women who come to our mission are adults, many have a history of
making bad choices. They come to us seeking to get closer to God and to find direction
and guidance in their lives. Often times our staff must say no to their
requests. That’s because we recognize that what they are wanting could cause
them harm or lead them back down the road they just left.
Answering
no isn’t being mean-spirited; rather we want to encourage our clients to move
in a Christ-centered direction. The passage above reminds us all that much of
what happens in our lives is the result of our decisions in light of what God
wants for us. When we say yes and God is trying to tell us no, he makes trouble
in our life or causes things to not work out as we had planned. God’s “no”
comes to us despite our own “yes”.
May
our clients and those of us who lead them learn to accept God’s ever-present
guidance in how we live and how best to make our decisions. Sometimes “no” is
the best answer we could hear.
