WHEN GOD SAYS NO ~ Jane Colvin
Do you like being told “No?” Have you ever had God tell you “NO?” Have you ever fervently prayed for something, and you just knew that God would answer in your favor? Has God always answered you just the way you thought He would?
What was your reaction when God did not answer with a “YES?” How did you respond when the Lord said “No?” We meet these types of situations with much confusion, and we try to understand why God did not answer as we had requested. Just like many of you, I have been in this same situation. Isaiah 55:8-9 are two verses we must hold on to. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
In May of 2021 my husband, Jesse, was very sick and eventually was hospitalized. After many tears, much prayer and fasting, God’s will was for Jesse was to leave this world and enter Heaven on June 1, 2021. As the days went on after Jesse’s death I found myself getting angry with God because things did not go the way that I wanted. I did not understand why the Lord did not see fit to answer MY prayer. I figured that since I had been serving Him for many years, and I was trying to live a life pleasing unto him, He would do just exactly as I had requested. Does God answer to me though? Of course not! Ultimately God is NOT accountable to me. HE IS GOD!
I just figured that God would see things my way. I really hadn’t thought of God’s plan in the situation. Could it be that God had a bigger plan than what I could see? When God told me “No,” I had to accept His answer and learn to trust His plan. This did not come easy for me. I began to doubt God’s love for me. If He really loved me, He would have answered my prayer. This just wasn’t fair! God was not dealing with me fairly!
God is so patient and loving. I am so thankful that He hears our heart’s cry and ministers to us in such a special way. Let me tell you about a lesson God showed me from His Word that really helped me during this very difficult season.
One day while reading my Bible, I came across the account of Jesus preparing to go to the cross. Matthew 26:39 caught my attention! “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” After reading this verse, the Lord gently spoke to my heart. I told my own Son “No.” I was stunned. Wow! Jesus did not get His request granted either. Did that mean that God did not love His only begotten Son? Of course not! I realized I was not alone. God told Jesus “No,” just as He had told me “No.”
God sometimes does not give all that I think I need because He has a bigger plan. Just think of it, if God had told Jesus “Yes,” we would be lost forever. Because Jesus’s “No” was our “Yes,” we gained eternal life in Heaven. He always knows best! II Samuel 22:31a “As for God, His way is perfect.” What will your response be when God tells you “No”?