One of the great joys of daily life with two toddlers is hearing them say no approximately every two and half seconds. Sometimes more. Not even kidding.
My all-time favorite is when they say no without even thinking about the question… and then have to quickly say yes because that’s what they really want- which I knew when I asked them!
“Madeline, do you want a special treat?”
“No, no. Special treat? Yeah, special treat.”
It’s amusing when it is a toddler doing it because we see how ridiculous they sound. But it isn’t quite as amusing when it’s us responding to God.
Our Knee-Jerk Answer
So often God asks us to do something and our immediate, knee-jerk response is no… without even taking a moment to think about it.
“Dara, will you do something great with Me today?”
“No, no, I don’t have time.”
“Dara, will you help your neighbor in need?”
“No, no, I don’t have the money.”
“Dara, will you spend time with Me?”
“No, no, I need my sleep.”
The truth is it doesn’t matter what our excuses reasons are for saying no. The Creator of the Universe, the Lover of our Soul is ASKING us to do something.
Just take a minute to think about that. The One who made you and died for you is ASKING you- not forcing you, not making you, but ASKING you.
And we have the audacity to say no?
Without even taking a minute to realize that He sees the beginning from the end, that He knows us better than we know ourselves, that He only has our best interest in mind.
What would it take for us to trust God enough to say yes as our knee-jerk response instead of no?
What would He have to do before we finally realize that we have every reason to trust Him with every aspect of our lives?