No as a Catalyst

I recently applied for what I thought sounded like an amazing dream type. It was a creative mom boss who had a thriving Pinterest career. As some of you may or may not know I dabble in Pinterest on the side and have a better understanding of its inner workings than the average user. I thought this would make me a viable candidate. I did as I always do with these things: filled out the application, tried not to over-analyze, and sent it off with a prayer, knowing God is in control. Days later, I received the perfunctory, “I was not chosen as a candidate” email. I figured I had a 50/50 chance so it wasn’t a complete blow. I found out while at work, so I needed to process the response and move on rather quickly. I walked down the hall to the bathroom and uttered a prayer. I also decided that I was not going to let myself be bothered by this “no”.

A “no”, in fact, was just a chance to redirect my steps and re-write my map. When you hit a brick wall, and cannot proceed, you have to make a choice. You can’t go directly ahead, so you can either stay where you are and sit (not necessarily stuck, but waiting for further direction) or you have to turn slightly left or right to go around the “no” that’s right in front of you. I do believe that we are sometimes in a season of wait, but more often than not we should determine if right or left is better and then start forging that path. Eventually, I will get to my “yes”.

I’m sure most of you have heard of many now-famous folks that received many “no’s” on the way to their “yes”, or experienced many filed invections before their eureka moment (i.e., Albert Einstein, the Wright brothers).  Instead of mourning what could have been, decide not to stay stuck and turn the corner until your yes becomes visible.

Father, let us look differently when we receive a “no” response. We won’t know until we try and I believe that if we keep going it will just be a matter of time until we reach our “yes”. All in Your time. And, not if, but when. Amen.