It's OK For Christians To Say "No"

Several weeks ago the Journey Worship team went to Integrity Worship's Glorious Seminars 4 Worship.

It was a great.!  You may remember when Josh and I attended this same seminar in Charlotte a couple of years ago.  I love that the leaders are so real.  They don't try to pretend that they are any more important than the rest of us.  They lead out of a humility that is contagious and I absolutely LOVE it!

Monday afternoon I went to a breakout session with Kathryn Scott.  She is SO sweet, down to earth and full of real-life experience and wisdom.

The session was really a Q and A and boy was it insightful.

Here is my take-away from that hour with Kathryn.

Q: "How do you balance your family and your ministry?"

Here was her simple, yet very insightful answer:

"There is a world full of worship leaders, but my family only gets one of them."

Wow!

She then followed that phrase explaining that we can get so caught up in doing things, good things, that we can sometimes miss the more important things.  She said that if an awesome opportunity comes to her, yet she feels a pull toward her family and knows that they just couldn't handle her absence for that long, at that time, she must refuse, no matter how life-changing it may be for her or others.  God will fill the gap if she cannot do it.  Likewise, God will provide other opportunities to minister in other wonderful ways when the timing is right.  He will never let you down!

See, I think this is where we go wrong.  I know Josh and I have felt this way before.  We get this great opportunity but at the worst possible time.  Do we force the details to make it work?  Do we risk the well-being of our family for just a great opportunity?  Do we really believe that the Lord will withhold every other great opportunity from us and that if we don't take this one it may be the last one that ever comes our way?  No. No. And...yes.  I think we truly believe this sometimes, and get scared that this may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but if the Lord wants this to happen in our lives, then he will make it happen...at an appropriate time.

I can't get that phrase out of my mind.  There are a million violin players in the world, but my family only gets one of them.  There are a million bloggers in the world, but my family only gets one of them.  There are tons of volunteers helping out orphanages, but my family only gets one of them.

It is so hard for us Christians to say "no".  I'm realizing how selfish this can be, though.  "If I say no, then no one else can/will do it."  We are making ourselves better than we truly are.  We are making ourselves irreplaceable.  If a task is supposed to be done, and you are at a point in your life where you would be sacrificing your family's well-being, then the Lord will send someone else along to fill that void.

I also want to take this a step further.  There are a million ministries, ours being one of them, and good causes to give toward.  But who has the money to give to every person making a difference in this world?  I know we don't!  But that doesn't make us resistant to give.  We ask to Lord to make us sensitive to His leading.  We give where the Lord leads and that's it.  There is no way we can do it all, and we shouldn't feel guilty about having to say "no".

In a culture that is so consumed with going and doing good things, saying "no" isn't the easiest thing, but boy will you feel good when you are walking the path the Lord has laid before you and as you obediently prioritizing your life according to your needs as a family.