I clearly remember in junior high school when the “Just Say No,” campaign was kicked off by Nancy Reagan. Starting in 1981, Mrs. Reagan’s anti-drug crusade took her to 65 cities in 33 states, the Vatican, and eight other foreign countries in the course of eight years, as well as moving her to make numerous speeches, host two international conferences, and participate in radio and TV interviews.
The message worked for me. Although I did many regrettable things in high school, drugs was not one of them. Yet, today I was reminded again of this slogan as I read the forward of How to Say No…and Live to Tell About It (Harvest House) by author, Mary Byers.
Byers says, “When you try to be all things to all people, you run the risk of being nothing to anyone, including yourself. God has a special plan for you, and it’s your job to figure out what that plan is. Doing so requires saying no to things that don’t fit into the plan and yes to the activities that do. It sounds simple, but the complexity of real life keeps it from being anything but easy.”
How about you? Do you have a problem, “Just saying no?” Nancy started the motto, and Mary brings it home for us today. Saying no, after all, is the first step to allowing all the “yeses” God has planned for your days.
It took me some years, but I have finally learned how to say no.