When God says no!

​Growing up I had a pretty messed up idea about the way prayer works. Years of hearing prosperity gospel preachers and memorizing out of context scripture led me to believing that if we prayed for it, then we got it and if we didn’t get what we had prayed for then we hadn’t prayed hard enough or long enough or often enough, you get the picture…

Over time, I became disenchanted and honestly, even a bit angry with God, not realizing that I had treated Him like a type of genie who I expected to give me every little thing I wanted.  This, however, is not the way God works. He did not promise to give us everything we want but he did promise us that no good thing will He withhold from those who fear him (psalm 34:8-22) and that He is able to supply all our needs (Philippians 4:19). God in his Divine providence and wisdom knows why I should not get the things I really want right now or maybe even ever. He created me and knows me so much better than I could ever know myself.  Looking back now, I see how the things I thought I had missed out on in life literally saved me from a path of self destruction and all I can say is, thank God!

When I realized that God does in fact say no to His people I was shocked! But this is obvious when you study the bible. David was rebuked and punished for his sin, he pleaded with God to let his child born out of that sin live, and God said no (2nd Samuel 12). Another example is Paul, he prayed three times for the thorn in his flesh to be removed and again God said no (2nd Corinthians 12:7-9).Then there’s  Moses who didn’t get to see the Promised Land even after 40 years of wondering the desert with the Israelites (Deut.31). Jesus Himself pleaded with God to let him bypass the suffering he was about to go through when he was in the garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-36) and yet again, God said no. Although I may not understand why God may be saying no, but I know that even His no has purpose.

I have learned to trust that He will work all things for my good even when I so disappointed that I have puffy eyes from hours of crying  because, don’t get me wrong, we are only human after all, and not getting something you want is disappointing and disappointment is sometimes soul-crushing. We start to wonder whether God really loves us, and we also wonder why life isn’t fair, etc.  We must learn to trust that God only wants the very best for us and only He knows the implications of every single thing, so trust God, He’s got your back.

I’ll finish off with something C.S. Lewis once wrote, “We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”

Grace and Peace