There have been times in my life where I have frequently used the words, “I will never.”
When I was in high school I said, “I will never stop playing tennis.”
But, I can’t remember when I’ve had the time to pick up my racquet and play the past few years.
When I was in college I said, “I will never fall from God.”
A few months later I found myself facing a situation where I had never fallen further from Him.
When I became a wife I said, “I will never have a bad marriage.”
It didn’t take but a few weeks and a lot of bumps into the marriage road to experience this.
When I became a mom I said, “I will never yell at my kids.”
Fulfilled this until my daughter was twelve months old and began pulling picture frames off the bookcase and shattering them to pieces. “Noooo!!!!” I shouted.
Never say never…
I have a friend who has an incredible gift of writing but she says, “I will never write a book.”
Another friend is frustrated with her job search. She says, “I will never find a job!”
Someone close to me needs a relationship restored. They say, “Things will never change.”
Never say never…
The words, “I will never” have this limiting power over us. They have the ability to halt the movement of God in our lives. And they can also stir something dangerous within us…
-None of us escape the sin factor; we could each stumble and fall at any time.
-We will not be able to know exactly what God is doing with our lives.
-And sometimes we do not have the ability to see past our own limitations.
So today I’m thinking those words, “I will never” are among the most dangerous words a follower of Jesus can speak.
I know what its like to be impatient with God, ourselves and others. It becomes incredibly easy to believe that never is the place we can rest our souls when we can’t understand what God is doing.
Perhaps behind every “never” in our lives is a fear wrapped up in a sense of worry.
“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”–Phil 4:6-7
So, I’m trying to switch my “never” thoughts to “stay open.”
~Stay open the life transitions God is bringing life.
~Stay open to what looks impossible.
~Stay open to the place of being in need of grace.
~Stay open to risks that make life feel uncomfortable.
Where does God need us to “stay open” today? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
[I loved, loved, loved reading your “All In” comments on Tuesday’s post. You all blessed my soul like crazy! I wish I could buy all of you a cup of coffee because you so deserve it! You are amazing!!!! But, the winner of the Starbucks gift card is….Fran! Thank you everyone for participating and I’d love to hear how your Hope Challenge went. ☺ ]
13 Comments
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I pray I can remember this when I want to say, I never. I want to only remember Jesus saying it though. HE tells me no matter what I am going through, He tells me “I will Never leave you or forsake you”!. So I pray that when I am tempted to say “I never”, it will lead me right to His Words of I never, and cross out my own!
I have to say from the encouraging words I gave others, I was encouraged right back. Thanks for encouraging Us to do this. I pray I can do this all the time. God is so good! So thankful I came across your blog for the first time at such a good time! God bless you, you have touched my heart!
Love this Gail. Blessings to you!
I pray I will remember your words. I have become so negative in the last few weeks and I just cannot seem to get myself out of this place. God bless you ~ you are very encouraging!
Susan, I so understand what its like to be in that place. You can pull out, I promise. Small steps. 🙂
Nicki, you are truly blessed with the gift of writing. This post really spoke to me. As always…I love visiting your blog you give me so much encouragement!
Love you!
~~~rhonda~~~
Thank you Rhonda, you bless me. Love you!
You said it so well.
Love you Rhondi. 🙂
How appropriate for today. This was very helpful as I was talking to my daughter about her deployed husband who was scheduled to come home before Thanksgiving and now it doesn’t look like he will make it by Christmas and she is full of anger and disappointment right now. I used this verse for her situation and asked her to stay open during this transition and to what looks imposible.
Thank you!!
I definately need to stay open in the coming weeks as we approach some changes in our household. This was definately meant for me read and thank God I found your blog. I think this is God’s way of telling me what I need to know to get through. Thank you.
I have no idea if I’m the Fran who won the gift card, but if not…i’m so thankful I found your blog. What an encouragment you are!! Have followed you on twitter for quite awhile and am so happy to have found more than 140 characters here. 😉
Be blessed.
Fran
Congrats to Fran!!
Another great read to encourage me to keep going even if it’s tough and I feel like God is nowhere to be found!!! This is what faith is supposed to be like right?
Thanks Nicki!
Thank you for your words Nicki. I recently learned that saying “I never” is akin to makin an inner vow. It was explained to me that when you do this, you are also negating God’s power to work in the situation. Thank you for your timely reminder.
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