Sis, have you ever prayed and believed with all your heart that God would answer your request, only to receive a resounding "no" in response? I have. I remember praying for months for a relationship that I was sure was perfect for me, but ultimately, it didn't work out. I was devastated and felt like God had let me down. I questioned why He would allow me to hope and believe for something only to take it away. It wasn't until later that I realized that God had something better in store for me, and that His "no" was actually a gift in disguise.
I've been to many churches where the focus is on God's "yes" and the power of prayer to get what we want, but rarely do we talk about what to do when God says "no." It's almost as if we are only supposed to expect a yes from God, and when we don't get it, we start to question if He really loves us or even hears us. Have you been there too?
But the truth is, God never stops being God. He is sovereign, and His ways are higher than our ways. There are times when He says no to us, not because He doesn't care about us, but because He knows what is best for us in the long run.
It's important to remember that the yes, wait, and no from God all come from the same place of love and protection.
The Bible has many examples of when God said "no," and one that stands out to me is when King David prayed for his child with Bathsheba to be saved. Despite his fervent prayers, the child died.
David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused.
2 Samuel 12: 16- 17
Some Bible theologians believe that David wrote Psalms 6 during the time he was asking God to save the life of his child.
"I am worn out from sobbing.
All night I flood my bed with weeping,
drenching it with my tears.
My vision is blurred by grief;
my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies."
Psalms 6:6 - 7
Can you imagine the pain and heartbreak David must have felt? Maybe you can relate to that kind of pain. The weeping, prayers, beliefs, and questioning God can all be real. But what did David do?
He got up, cleaned himself, and went to worship the Lord. He didn't understand why God said no, but he chose to trust Him anyway.
When God says no, it can be tempting to give up on our faith or become bitter toward Him. But through the no of God, we have a chance to experience Him on a different and more powerful level.
His no can be for different reasons; maybe because his plans and purpose for our lives require a different route; perhaps his no is the only way we'll truly live a life of surrender and dependence on him, or just because our motives were wrong. Regardless of the reason for His denial, instead of stopping believing and turning ourselves away from him, let's do like King David. Worship!
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