Is This YES Necessary?

Long ago I misunderstood Proverbs 24:10-12: "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, 'Behold, we did not know this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will He not repay everyone according to his or her work?"

My misunderstanding caused me to say YES to every good opportunity which came along, until one day I collapsed at work. I don't know how I managed to get home, but I had to reconsider all of the YES answers I had given.

I had to cut back all of my commitments but one--I had to keep working. All of the others got phone calls explaining why I was cutting back. Only one place tried to put the guilt trip on me whereas all of the others were understanding.

I had to learn the hard way that not every YES is necessary.

Sometimes a NO, sometimes a NOT NOW, sometimes a YES--but all take discernment.

One question I ask is, "Am I the only person qualified to take this on?"

Another is, if I say YES, will someone else miss a learning opportunity they would have had from saying YES?

Then, if I say YES to this, what will I have to say NO to and what will that mean?

Furthermore, am I really helping in this situation or just enabling someone to not take responsibility that is rightly theirs?

Discernment is developed over time.

Reading Proverbs helps as does asking other Christians for their input.

To this day I have to ask, "Is this YES necessary?"