When God Says No…
We have all experienced this. There is something we want. There is something that we believe is best. We pray. We ask God. And God says… NO. There is disappointment. There is frustration. There is grief. There is confusion. What do you do with that? What do you do when God says no?
There is so much to say about this because this is not foreign to us – this was not foreign to the Bible – this wasn’t even foreign to Jesus Himself (Garden of Gethsemane).
Here are some things to think about:
God did answer your prayer. He just said no. We have been taught that answering means God saying yes. This is not true. There are 3 possible answers: Yes, No, Later.
God is all knowing + all sovereign + all good + all wise + all loving = all trustworthy. He has a perfect will & you can trust it. His job is not to make us happy.
Trust does not = agreement. You can struggle to agree and yet choose to fully trust. Agreement is found in feelings. Trust is found in God’s character.
Either God is Lord of Everything or Lord of Nothing. And if He is Lord of everything (which He is) we have to trust Him with everything.
God has a good & perfect design for our lives. One of the greatest joys as followers of Jesus is live out His design. We pursue His will. We don’t ask Him to bless our will.
One of the passages of scripture that always ministers to me in this is Acts 16:6-10 – When God told Paul no.
[6] And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. [7] And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. [8] So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. [9] And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” [10] And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. // Acts 16:6-10
Paul had a desire to head to Asia & Bithynia to proclaim the gospel. He believed it was the right thing. He believed this was God’s Will. He believed this was best. But God said NO!
The Holy Spirit forbid him to speak a word in Asia.
The Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go to Bithynia.
I am not sure what this means. I don’t know if Paul got sick or he couldn’t cross the border or what. But God said NO. Here are some things that we see from this text:
God has a perfect will for our lives. God is faithful to say no and redirect our lives when we walk down the wrong path. God’s no always comes from God’s faithfulness.
Paul didn’t fight God. He didn’t let this get in the way of his relationship with God. Paul kept going (v.8). He kept moving.
Paul continued to look for what God was doing, how God was speaking, and where God was leading. God was faithful to speak to Paul (v9)
Paul responded with immediate obedience because he concluded that God had called him to go (v10)
We don’t want to get ahead of God or behind God. We want to be in step with God. When God says no, this is an opportunity lean in and to trust Him with everything. When God says no it is just an exercise in faith knowing that God’s ways are best & things just go better when we do them God’s ways.
As you faithfully pursue Jesus in your everyday life my challenge is to trust God through the yeses & the noes