The First Time I Said No

The First Time I Said No

TEXT: Proverbs 1:10 (My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent)

The first time I said ‘no’ was in my primary school days.

My school shoes were bad that day and when I got to school, a thought crossed my mind that instead of staying for the assembly and being seen in bad shoes, I could go to one of the classes upstairs where no one would see me and hide until after the morning assembly.

I sneaked away, found a class that was in a corner, and planned to hide under a table if I heard anyone coming before the assembly was over. Before I knew it, a boy from another class suddenly appeared and probably noticed I was hiding. He came close to me and asked me to tell a lie on his behalf if I didn’t want him to report me but I said ‘no’. When he saw I was determined, he left me there and returned to the assembly. Unknown to me, he came up with a plan to hide the teacher’s food so that he could accuse me and I would be punished.

After some hours that day, a group of pupils came to my class to call me out that there had been a rumor that I stole a teacher’s food and they came with the teacher to my class. I was confused and wondered what had happened. It was then I realised that the boy had told them that he met me in the class when he came so I was the suspect. When the teacher concerned came by, she looked at me and said, “I know her, she won’t do such a thing.”

The teacher had been my English teacher some years before but I didn’t know she knew me that well God used her to deliver me from being given a bad name. Sometimes when you say ‘no’, you may be rejected or blackmailed, but God would be pleased with you and He would make a way to deliver you as He did for me that day.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for the assurance I have that you will deliver me from any trouble I face as a result of standing for what is right.