Never say Never
Written by Ali Wassell | 1st June 2024
I didn’t want a dog……..
I feel increasingly aware that God wants to unlock new things in me and teach me new things – and I have an increasing desire for Him to do so! I have prayed very much that I will never grow too familiar with God and think I know it all, and that I will aspire to see Him in new ways. I have this extract written out at home which God highlighted to me many years ago:
“In Prince Caspian, CS Lewis writes of the young Lucy experiencing a personal visit from Aslan. As Lucy encounters her old friend, she perceives him to be somehow ‘bigger’ than she remembers from past experience.
“Aslan, you’re bigger”
“That is because you are older, little one”
“Not because you are?”
“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”
God intends that our lives should be a continuous discovery of how great He is.”
I love what it says in Psalm 92 about the righteous “still bear fruit in old age; they will stay fresh and green” (v14). Oh, I long to stay fresh and green and keep bearing fruit. For many years now I have prayed this over myself and know that it involves letting Him into places in my life in which I have previously said ‘no’ or have felt disqualified.
In fact, often the areas we keep hidden in our hearts are the very areas that God wants to unlock. Let me share a few examples with you.
Many years ago my two children asked if we could have a dog in the family. I feel sure I am not the only parent who has been asked this, and my answer was a resounding and definite no! This continued for 10 long years (!) and I remained as resolute as ever… until I began to feel God nudging me. Why did I not want a dog? (Too messy, not enough time, dog hairs all over my clean house… endless reasons!) As I wrestled with this, my ‘no’ eventually became a ‘yes’, and to my children’s delight we did get a dog, called Osca – and he was the fluffiest, hairiest dog ever! At the time, I had no idea of how God would use this to bless me. Walking Osca quickly became my favourite part of the day – it was precious time with God. I learned to pray in new ways, and God taught me so much about myself. This was the time when I really learned to be aware of and tune into God’s voice. We had Osca for nearly 12 years – and I look back and I thank God so much for what I now see as one of the best family decisions we ever made. It was more than a simple ‘yes’ to my children; it was a ‘yes’ to God over something I had said would not happen.
Our beautiful fluffy dog Osca!
Last year, God stripped back something else over which I had said “I will never do that, want to do that or be able to do that”. When I was at school, I loved sprint races but anything more than 200m was not for me – I was not a distance runner. But in 2022, at the age of 54, I again felt that familiar nudge from God about stepping into something new as I watched my daughter complete the ‘Couch to 5K’. Surely this would never be reachable for me! But I felt God tell me that in doing this – in following the programme that thousands of others had done – I would go on a journey with Him. And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us - Hebrews 12:1. I began this in July 2023 and by the end of October I completed my first 5k Park Run, something I never thought I would be able to do. Not just that, but I am still running now, actually enjoying it and even smiling at what God has used it for. From the first week of running, I have used each run to pray specifically for people and to stand with them. And God’s kindness has ensured that, whilst I no longer have a dog to walk, He can speak to me on all my runs through things I see, hear and even simply feel. It has also opened up great conversations with colleagues at work and I have seen some of them encouraged to try things they found hard too. Again, my ‘yes’ to running was more about a ‘yes’ to God and allowing Him to meet me in an area I had shut off.
At the end of my first park run October 23, completed in the rain!!
Finally, my latest ‘yes’ adventure began in January 2024 when I went to a prayer event and felt God prompt me to pick up a pencil as He wanted to develop ‘creativity’ in me. I nearly laughed out loud! I am musical and can sew but have always viewed creativity as being able to draw, and that really is something that I find very difficult. As a result, I have always disqualified myself from anything considered creative. But clearly God wants to change this in me – later on at the prayer event, a word was given about God wanting to release creativity and how it is easy to hide behind things we can’t do. Since then, God has reminded me that He is the Creator – creativity is in His DNA, and I am His child who was made in His image and therefore I have creativity within me! I have had to remove my preconceptions about what being creative is and realise it is so much more – so I am challenged to finish an embroidery picture I began 32 years ago (!), and then I will learn how to knit – something I have never done before. I appreciate that even writing this is a release of creativity! I am excited about what God is going to reveal to me as I step out in saying, yet again, ‘yes’ to Him.
“Tree of Life” Embroidery finished, April 24, waiting to be framed!
And I pray that I will “stay fresh and green” and keep allowing God into those areas of my heart I have tucked away.
Perhaps this resonates with you. Are there areas of your life that you have closed to God – things to which you have said ‘no’ or believe you cannot do? I encourage you to see that those may well be the areas in which God wants to meet you in only the way that He can.
LET’S DO THIS
Perhaps God has already started to speak to you as you have reflected on Ali’s blog. Can I encourage you to take some time to ask God to reveal if there are any times you have said “I will never do that, want to do that or be able to do that” or where you have discounted yourself?
Release the restrictions you may have put on yourself….
If God brings anything to mind, can I encourage you to chat to God about it. Perhaps say you are sorry for discounted yourself or for saying “no” to something he has encouraging you to step out in. Then ask him to show you what he would like you to do next…
Release the restrictions others may have put on you….
If you find in the process God reveals that others have discouraged you in doing something in the past or said “you will never do that or you can’t do that”. Take the time to choose to forgive them and ask God to reveal more about how He sees you and what he thinks…
Take a step forward…
Your first steps maybe small steps towards what you sense God is asking you to say “yes” to – that’s ok. Sometimes taking just a few small steps towards it, is all God is asking of us. He will then show you the next steps or what he is going to reveal or teach you along the way. It is often about the journey not the destination…as Ali shared God reveals so much along the way. Before you know it, you will be running…’And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us - Hebrews 12:1’
Keep putting your trust in Him and see it as an adventure with a loving Father who cares deeply about you. He has purposes for the precious ones he has created.