Saying No

Let’s face it, we can’t do it all.  I’ve been realizing the importance of boundaries and rest in my life lately.  My schedule right now is at a place where I’m doing just the amount of things I can handle and have had to say “no” to other things that are good.  I’ve had to prioritize my obligations and be ok with not being able to say “yes” to everything.  I have my classes with CGA, time for homework, applying for grad schools (a more complex process than I had first envisioned), my job at Chick-Fil-A, various volunteer opportunities with two different anti-trafficking organizations, intentional relationships of being discipled and discipling others, and Sunday: my day of rest.  I recently had the opportunity to add another thing to the list by getting trained in helping people bring the Holy Spirit into past situations and have him speak into those past wounds.  This would be a great opportunity for me, especially considering my field of interest.  I realized, though, with my schedule I’m really only available on Sundays for weekly commitments.  This training would have been something beneficial and glorifying to the Lord, so would it really have been that big of a deal if I took my rest day to do this?  In the end, I felt that having a day free of any plans or obligations was important.  Hebrews 4:9-10 says, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (ESV).  That always convicts me: if God took a day of rest, who am I to think I can go without one? He set us the example of taking a day of rest for a reason.  So even though there are lots of great opportunities everywhere for building the Kingdom of God, even Jesus did not heal every person he crossed paths with and took time to seclude himself from people.  We have limitations and that’s ok.  We just have to learn to steward our time and gifts the best way we can and know that we don’t have to strive to be more, because we are already “enough” just the way we are.