Training-Out "No" & Training-In "Yes"
There's a word which hands-down gets the most use in my home. I wish I could say it's "love," or "thanks," or "please," but apparently my home isn't that positive of an environment. Without question the most popular word at the casa de Gutierrez is "no." It's not even close. Whatever word ranks 2nd in use in my home, I'm certain that it's surpassed by "no" by a factor of 10.
All day long the house is filled with "no." It comes in all sorts of forms. Sometimes it's a very matter of fact "no." Sometimes it's a firm but tempered "no." Sometimes it's an emotionally charged "no." Sometimes it's a shocked and horrified "no." Every night I go to bed with the echoes of the day's nos ringing in my ears.
All of the nos come from one of two sources: 1) Edie, or 2) Edie's parents. Edie's nos sound like this. Edie, eat some chicken. "No!" Edie, it's nap time. "No!" Edie, stop head-butting your sister. "No!" Edie's parents' nos sound like this. "No, you can't have a popsicle for breakfast." "No, stop biting!" "No, put down that fork and step away from the outlet!"
It's amazing how a simple two-letter word can be used so differently. There's a huge distinction between Edie's nos and daddy and mommy's nos. Edie's nos are nos of defiance and rebellion. Edie's parents nos are nos of protection and caring. Edie's nos are nos of immaturity. Edie's parents' nos are nos of a mature love.
I can't help but see a great similarity between the nos in my home and the nos in my relationship with my Heavenly Father. God asks obedience from me but I say "no." God asks for me to love others but I say "no." God asks for me to trust Him fully but I say "no." My nos are nos of defiance and rebellion. But my Father's nos are nos of protection and caring. When He says "no" it's because it's in my best interest. When He says "no" it's because there is something better. When He says "no" it's because He is leading me in a more desirable direction. My nos are nos of immaturity. His nos are nos of unconditional love.
What I need is discipleship. My faith in Him needs to grow so that I may trust Him more and be quicker to obey Him. My heart and mind for the Lord need to develop so that they are more in line with His heart and mind. And if I mature like that, I will hear less "no" from God and hear more "yes." As 1 John 5:14-15 says, "This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him."
So what about my home? I want for it to be filled with "yes" but that will take much discipleship. Jamie and I are going to have to be intentional to teach Edie so that her rebellious and defiant nos are turned into honoring and obedient yeses. We need to train her so that the day she leaves our home we'll be able to trust that she will say "yes" to the right things. We have the privilege and responsibility to guide Edie so that she matures into a godly woman who says "yes" to her Heavenly Father and hears "yes" from her Heavenly Father. I pray that God will use Jamie and I to disciple Edie so that her nos are transformed to yeses.
In awe of Jesus,
Pastor Rick
All day long the house is filled with "no." It comes in all sorts of forms. Sometimes it's a very matter of fact "no." Sometimes it's a firm but tempered "no." Sometimes it's an emotionally charged "no." Sometimes it's a shocked and horrified "no." Every night I go to bed with the echoes of the day's nos ringing in my ears.
All of the nos come from one of two sources: 1) Edie, or 2) Edie's parents. Edie's nos sound like this. Edie, eat some chicken. "No!" Edie, it's nap time. "No!" Edie, stop head-butting your sister. "No!" Edie's parents' nos sound like this. "No, you can't have a popsicle for breakfast." "No, stop biting!" "No, put down that fork and step away from the outlet!"
It's amazing how a simple two-letter word can be used so differently. There's a huge distinction between Edie's nos and daddy and mommy's nos. Edie's nos are nos of defiance and rebellion. Edie's parents nos are nos of protection and caring. Edie's nos are nos of immaturity. Edie's parents' nos are nos of a mature love.
I can't help but see a great similarity between the nos in my home and the nos in my relationship with my Heavenly Father. God asks obedience from me but I say "no." God asks for me to love others but I say "no." God asks for me to trust Him fully but I say "no." My nos are nos of defiance and rebellion. But my Father's nos are nos of protection and caring. When He says "no" it's because it's in my best interest. When He says "no" it's because there is something better. When He says "no" it's because He is leading me in a more desirable direction. My nos are nos of immaturity. His nos are nos of unconditional love.
What I need is discipleship. My faith in Him needs to grow so that I may trust Him more and be quicker to obey Him. My heart and mind for the Lord need to develop so that they are more in line with His heart and mind. And if I mature like that, I will hear less "no" from God and hear more "yes." As 1 John 5:14-15 says, "This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him."
So what about my home? I want for it to be filled with "yes" but that will take much discipleship. Jamie and I are going to have to be intentional to teach Edie so that her rebellious and defiant nos are turned into honoring and obedient yeses. We need to train her so that the day she leaves our home we'll be able to trust that she will say "yes" to the right things. We have the privilege and responsibility to guide Edie so that she matures into a godly woman who says "yes" to her Heavenly Father and hears "yes" from her Heavenly Father. I pray that God will use Jamie and I to disciple Edie so that her nos are transformed to yeses.
In awe of Jesus,
Pastor Rick
It is interesting to note, though, that often those "yeses" are preceded by a series of "nos." It takes a long journey to be able to get to a place where "yeses" are heard more often than "nos."
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