When God Says No

[JoieDeVivre]

I was deeply encouraged when I read this. I hope you are too.

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WHEN GOD SAYS NO
by Max Lucado

There are times when the one thing you want is the one thing you never get. You're not being picky or demanding; you only obey his command to "ask God for everything you need" (Phil. 4:6). All you want is an open door or an extra day or an answered prayer, for which you will be thankful.

And so you pray and wait.
No answer.
You pray and wait.
No answer.
You pray and wait.

May I ask a very important question? What if God says no? What if the request is delayed or even denied? When God says no to you, how will you respond? If God says, "I have given you my grace, and that is enough," will you be content?

Content. That's the word. A state of heart in which you would be at peace if God gave you nothing more than he already has. Test yourself with this question: What if God's only gift to you were his grace to save you. Would you be content? You beg him to save the life of your child. You plead with him to keep your business afloat. You implore him to remove the cancer from your body. What if his answer is, "My grace is enough." Would you be content?

You see, from heaven's perspective, grace is enough. If God did nothing more than save us from hell, could anyone complain? If God saved our souls and then left us to spend our lives leprosy-struck on a deserted island, would he be unjust?

Having been given eternal life, dare we grumble at an aching body? Having been given heavenly riches, dare we bemoan earthly poverty? The vast majority of us have been saved and then blessed even more!

But there are those times when God, having given us his grace, hears our appeals and says, "My grace is sufficient for you," Is he being unfair? In "God Came Near" I've told how our eldest daughter fell into a swimming pool when she was two years old. A friend saw her and pulled her to safety! What I didn't tell was what happened the next morning in my prayer time.

I made a special effort to record my gratitude in my journal. I told God how wonderful he was for saving her. As clearly as if God were speaking, this question came to mind: Would I be less wonderful had I let her drown? Would I be any less a good God for calling her home? Would I still be receiving your praise this morning had I not saved her?

Is God still a good God when He says no?

 

[Didymus]

of course. Anne Graham Lotz askes this question in one of her books :If God never heals you, never eases your problem, never grants your request ( this is nto an exact quote but you get tthe idea) : is He still worht of your praise.
People say that God never lets them down or disappoints them.I feel that He has done both to me but I also know He is doing it for my own good even though i can t understand it now. i think of Job a lot .

 

[GodOwnsMe]

there are questions that are still bothering me, and stuff isn't always going 'my way' but God is never letting me down as in nothing could ever destroy me
job is awesome (I mean what I got out of it !!).. I had questions God didn't seem to answer, I could kinda identify with God & was like. wow He doesn't answer His questions aswell.. yeh 'a lil' disappointed, like eh, why ?
I mean He told him a lot about creation, what He did and how big He is. I dunno it irritated me. But I understood that He's still perfect God, and that's like the um base, His ways aren't ours, even when I totally don't understand, He always was, is, and will be the perfect God who created the world and let His son die in our place.

 

[nomad]

I guess I have come to a point in my relationship with Him that He is who He is and I am who I am.  I accept Him unconditionally.

I get angry with Him, wonder about Him, Laugh at Him and sometimes I feel He's near and far away.  Sometimes He answers, sometimes He doesn't.   Sometimes He quick, sometimes not.

I guess the bottom line is no matter what, there is a place in my heart that will always look up to Him and love him.  It will never change, it is eternal and beyond words.

I never knew until just now what "peace" meant.  I always thought it was a feeling.  When it's actually a knowing.

 

[Blade]

I think we need to also look at our selfs sometimes to see if just maybe we missed is somewhere. What if Gods not answering because of something in our lives we have done, thought or said.

Just another look at it

 

[nomad]

I think we need to also look at our selfs sometimes to see if just maybe we missed is somewhere. What if Gods not answering because of something in our lives we have done, thought or said.

Very good point!!!!

 

[Blessed-one]

Is God still a good God when He says no?

that brings us back to the issue of trust i think, because sometimes, or rather, most of the time, we don't understand His "inaction" (which is also an action) and all we can do is trust in Him.

 

[AChildOfGodWithIronFaith]

yeah, like, what if we were asking for something but God has something better planned for us? we'll pout about God not giving us what we want when He's giving us what we need!!!

 

[reeann]

Today at 06:22 AM Blessed-one said this in Post #7



that brings us back to the issue of trust i think, because sometimes, or rather, most of the time, we don't understand His "inaction" (which is also an action) and all we can do is trust in Him.

OOh boy, your singing my song.  I have to fight the tendency to "take care of matters' myself.  This one is so hard for me.

 

[cherylq]

Blade, you said it all for me. Sometimes I have to ask myself if there is something that I'm not doing. If God say no them, I do know that it's for my own good. God saved me from death and I'm forever grateful, so if He said no I would trust and Love Him just the same.

Cherylq

 

[mistertee49]

I will keep on prasing God and thanking who with every breath that I have wether it is yes or no. He is too good to stop prasing him just because he doesn't gome thru for me. I want to be always in communion with the Lord. He just answered a big prayer for me and my wife but if he hadn't we would still be worshiping him on Sunday like we always do.