No more buts

How often have you been known to have someone tell you what you should do or their opinion of what you should do and then you come up with some reason why you can't do it. I know I have said, "Yeah, but..." more times than I care to admit. As someone who has counseled people I have heard it many times. "Yeah, but if I do that..." or "I would but..." It is so easy to "but" our way through life.

What if you stopped giving reasons for why you can't do something and started giving reasons for why you can. 2 Timothy 1:7 says "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline" So if God didn't make us timid, why are we acting like he did? Why do we keep coming up with excuses for why we can't? We are stronger than we give ourselves credit for and we can do more than we think we can. 2 Timothy 2:1 "You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus"

I wish I could say that I have always believed in myself and have never made excuses for why I couldn't or shouldn't do something. I have made excuses for why I couldn't do certain jobs, why I didn't try out for a play and why I didn't speak up when someone had hurt me. It took some hard realities hitting me and a realization that I have kept God from showing up and showing off, with my "buts" and "nos" to stop and ask myself "why not".

I hear it on a regular basis, especially from women. "I want to talk to my husband about "insert issue here", but I am afraid of what he will say or do." or "I want to do that, but I don't think I would do a good job." or "I would try that, but I'm scared." There are thousands more reasons and excuses why we don't do or say what we should do, but there are very few that are actually legitimate.

So I challenge you and I challenge myself to say yes more and take that risk that scares us to death. If we fail or it doesn't go well, so what. We learn something and grow whether it happens or not. One of the things I respect about my husband is his "no fear" attitude. He is never afraid to call someone and ask for something he wants. There have been times that he has told me something he was going to do and that little voice in my head has kind of made me nervous, but I have learned that it has gotten us far with things I never thought possible. Even when we have been told no or ignored, it was always a chance worth taking. Someone told me once, "the only way to fail every time is to never try."

I am currently looking for a new job. I could easily say that I can only get a job in child care because that is where most of my experience is, but it is not what I want to do. I have made the decision this time to go after the jobs I never thought possible. Will I be told no sometimes? Yes, I will, but I will never hear yes if I don't at least try. What are you going to say yes to today?