Today’s devotional really is the other side of the coin to yesterday’s. Downs says it herself: to say yes to one thing often means we must say no to something else; saying no to some things opens the way for better yeses (my paraphrase).

I do love her advice at the end (which could perhaps be the subtitle of the whole book): “Say the thing that courage asks you to say, even if it’s the word no.” Sometimes I’m so busy looking for what to pursue, looking for my yeses, I forget I also need to say no sometimes. (Or perhaps I forget that I’m allowed to say no.)

Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego are an epic example of standing up to authority when that authority figure calls on you to dishonour God, but mostly the examples I have in my life of saying no are much smaller. What I most often need to say no to are habits and behaviours and requests. Practising saying no, however, will help me say no to the bigger things: the things that require even more bravery.

Let’s be brave in both directions. With practice we will get braver and more confident in all our choices for the glory of God.