When God Says "No"
Maybe you’ve prayed and petitioned for God to open doors in your life, just to feel the breeze of door after door swinging shut. Maybe you’ve prayed for the healing of a loved one, just to see him or her pass away. Or perhaps, you prayed for a new job and never got it.
When We Hear “No”
When we pray for something and it doesn’t happen, it is easy to believe God hasn’t answered our prayers. We begin to think that God has forgotten us or was too busy dealing with something bigger or better. No prayer prayed goes unanswered. The answer just might not be what we expected. Sometimes God says “yes,” while other times His answer is “not yet” or even “no.”
If you’ve ever felt God saying “no,” you’re in good company. David, one of Israel’s kings and a man after God’s own heart, asked God to build a temple and God said no (1 Chronicles 28). Paul, author of most of the New Testament, begged God three times to remove a thorn piercing into him and God said no (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Jesus even petitioned for God to rid Him of His suffering the night before He died on the cross and God said no (Mark 14:32-42).
No prayer prayed goes unanswered. The answer just might not be what we expected.
God tells us no because He knows that there is something better for us. In Isaiah 55, God makes a comforting statement to His people, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). If God is telling you no, don’t lose hope! Trust that God knows what He is doing and has something better than what we wanted.
Sometimes “No” is “Yes”
It is hard to accept “no” for an answer and easy to believe that God’s decline is a sign of His rejection. But God never says “no” to mock or mame us. His “no” is to make room for a better “yes” for our lives. After all, if God hadn’t told Jesus no, we would have never had the opportunity of salvation!
The Best is Yet To Come
God knows what’s best for our lives, and sometimes what’s best involves saying no. When God says no, take hope - He is making room in your live to move in ways that you cannot even imagine.
Romans 8:28 is a great reminder for everyone that has accepted Christ into their lives that, “...in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
God promises that He will work together everything we experience--even the hard and painful stuff--for our good in ways that are better than we could ever imagine.