When God Says No
You’ve prayed for something, over and over again. You’ve sought to follow the Lord and be submitted to His will. Maybe it looks as if the desired gift is almost within your grasp. Hard as it may be, you’ve tried not to desire this blessing more than you desire the Lord, and to keep your focus on Him and your longings on the altar. And then, finally, you receive the answer to your prayers, and you step back in grief and disappointment. God says “No.”
My guess is that you’ve been here at some point (or maybe several!) in your life. A time when, instead of the “yes” answer you so desired and maybe even believed you were going to receive, God said no. Though you may be submitted to Him and desire His will more than anything, that does not take away the pain of disappointment. You lift up your empty hands and hurting heart, and question why. Perhaps the voices of the enemy and the flesh whisper that maybe God doesn’t care, maybe He doesn’t love you, maybe there is no point to serving Him. I have been there—almost deceived by the lies of the enemy. In His mercy, God has always reached down to remind me of His love and of the following truths from His word.
God is not obligated to do what I want, nor has He promised that my life will be easy, my dreams will come true, and that I will be spared pain or heartache. Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).” We’re told that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). We have countless Biblical examples of those who loved and served God, yet who suffered: Job, Joseph, David, Paul, Timothy, Jesus’ mother Mary, and of course, our Savior Himself. Who am I to think that I somehow get a “pass” on trials?
God has used disappointment in my own life to reveal to me the pride and selfishness of my heart. It’s easy to subconsciously think that God “owes” us something for living for Him. We seek to do what’s right and then believe that He really ought to bless us because we are trying to honor Him. We forget that we are the ones who owe Him everything! And while it’s true that God does promise to bless those who seek and serve Him, this brings us to the next point:
He is more concerned with my holiness than my happiness. As my pastor has said, “God’s definition of blessing may be very different from mine.” God’s definition is so often spiritual, not physical. We must read verses like Romans 8:28 in the light of the following verses stating what God’s purpose is in our lives: to conform us to the image of His Son. Verses like “Delight thyself also in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart” don’t mean that God will just give us whatever we want. (What kind of parent would do that?) If we delight in Him above all else, our desires will be merged into His eternal, wise, loving desires for us—and His chief desire is that we become like Jesus!
He loves me and is for me. Please, dear friend, don’t believe the devil’s lie that God doesn’t care or that He enjoys seeing you suffer. Nothing could be further from the truth! He proved His love for us when He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things (Romans 8: 31-32)?
He will not withhold any good thing from me; He is able to give me all things. He’s promised to give me whatever He knows I need, and sometimes what I want is not what I need!“For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11).”
He is enough, even if other blessings are withheld. “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward (Genesis 15:1).” In Christ, we have all we need! “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5).”
He is wise and all-knowing. He is able to see the “big picture” from an eternal perspective in a way my finite mind cannot comprehend. “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known (1 Corinthians 13:12). “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).”
When God says “no”, don’t turn away from Him in resentment—turn to Him in trust. Don’t believe the devil’s lies—believe the unchanging truth of His word. Rest in Him—in His character, in Who He is, and rest in the joy of knowing Him. Because He is sufficient. Always.
