This is the bottom line of Chapters 12 and 13 – when we accept one invitation, we decline another.
Have you found that out yet?
I’ve run into that all too often that year. And the funny thing is, invitations don’t come in order of priority in your life. Right? So the best yes opportunities don’t always come before the better-say-no opportunities. If you don’t spend time thoughtfully considering each invitation, and the trade you make when you accept it, then you foreclose the possibility of accepting certain future invitations. We need to leave room to: (1) breathe and rest, and (2) have availability for best yes invitations. {===>Click To Tweet}
In Chapter 12, Lysa reminds us that saying no can be hard and awkward, “In between where you are now and where you want to be will usually be a pathway of awkwardness. A crowd of potentially disappointed people… As hard as it is to disappoint a person in order to keep your appointment with God, remember on the other side of awkward is a promised land you don’t want to miss.”
If you have any people pleasing in you, then those nos can sometimes present some prickly challenges. But as we learned last week, there can be power in a small no. It can free you up for a big yes later on.
Oh, and then friends, we get to Chapter 13 where we’ve all been: what if I say no and they stop liking me. Listen to this wisdom:
If the person you are trying so hard not to disappoint will be displeased by a no,
they’ll eventually be disappointed even if you say yes.
The Best Yes, p. 159
Hear that? If you’re worried you can’t make them happy right now, then you won’t ever make them happy. You will tap dance around their feelings but eventually hit a landmine. I have HIT those landmines. They smart. They can even leave scars. Realize that you can not make everyone happy all the time, and then move on. Do the best you can. Give as graceful of a no as possible and then leave the rest in God’s hands.
What about you? What are you being called to say no to? How do you deal with awkward situations and disappointments when challenging offers come your way?
Let’s all try to remember what Lysa cautions at the end of Chapter 13: You won’t ever be able to keep up with unrealistic. Resolve to make decisions based on what is realistic.
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