A Small Word with a Powerful Punch

Life around us swirls with activity.  If you were to stand on a busy sidewalk in the middle of Chicago you would feel the rush of busyness.  The crush of people and the quickness of their pace will literally blow your hair back. Always something to do, somewhere to go, someone to visit/help, some organization to volunteer with, a blog to write, a craft to make, exercise, shopping, coffee dates, Bible study, church activities, school functions, etc.  Life is busy.  Striving to maintain a household is busy enough without having to add more (and I only have one person to take care of).  Many of these activities are worthy, important and necessary, however, there comes a time with a line in the sand needs to be drawn.  This little word with power has slowly crept back into my vocabulary has given me freedom again.  It is not lengthy and will certainly not gain you many points on Scrabble or Words with Friends, but it is equally liberating and scary.   

NO.

Simple, huh?  

Not really profound.  

Not really deep.  

Not really hard to understand its meaning...just NO.  

An emphatic word to halt behavior, decisions or actions.  

As a small child it is one of the first words we learn.  Our parents used it often to keep us from danger.  We used it when we didn't want to do our chores or homework.  It was shouted when our siblings tried to take something that belonged to us.  It often bounces off the walls around holidays when too much sugar is on hand.  

This word starts to take new meaning as we grow older {and hopefully wiser}.  We are encouraged to use NO with the positive affect to liberate ourselves from too many obligations.  Our friends reprimand us when do not use this word more often.  Your family members may actually rejoice exuberantly when this word is uttered from your lips.  

When relationship will be hindered.

When stress is elevated above joyfulness.

When you land on your bed with a flop each night in utter exhaustion.

When the thought of saying yes causes you to panic, cry or scream.

When the sink if full of dishes, the laundry unfolded, dinner came from the freezer and you haven't looked your family in the eyeballs in days...

... it is time to utter this simple word: NO.

When my world becomes so engrossed with things to do and places to go that in my hurriedness I forget to see the people around me.  I brush past family members and church members without a sideways glace in my rush to do the next thing.  

Our church has been learning about various people who after they met Jesus were never the same again.  As you can imagine this list is large and the characters broad.  Though there are some “big” names on the list, like his mother Mary, there are unexpected ones as well.  There was the Socially Outcast Woman who poured her bottle of perfume on his feet and washed them with her tears.  Jesus did not just tolerate her, he saw her.  He saw her as a person not just her reputation.  There was the Ten Lepers, the Blind Beggar, the Demon-Possessed Man.  As we get closer to Easter, we will encounter the Thief on the cross hanging next to Jesus.  Each of these encounters left each individual changed.  Not just because they were healed or forgiven, but because they felt the connection with Jesus.  They knew he cared about them and in that instant they were everything in his world.  Often Jesus literally stopped everything else he was doing in order to focus on people. 

Jesus was one who took the time to say “NO” to a to-do list and met with people.  He wanted to see them, talk to them, heal them, forgive them and love them.  If anyone had a right to brush past insignificant people in a rush to do a greater task, it was Jesus.  If anyone had an excuse to maintain a hectic, busy, clogged schedule, it was Jesus.  And yet, he knew the power of the word NO. 

How often am I willing to relinquish my task list for people? 
How often are you?