N is for No, Something God Often Says

God has the power to grant us any wish we desire, but sometimes His answer is just No.

Sometimes, we can excuse loss by thinking that someone else needed whatever we were denied more than we did.

No, your team will not win the basketball game.
No, you will not get into that college.
No, you will not receive that scholarship.
No, you will not get that job.

Sometimes we receive a no as a result of sin. In those instances, the best we can do is to repent, beg the Lord for forgiveness, and work to avoid future temptations. It does not make what was done to us right, but to sit around and not examine our own thoughts, words, and actions helps no one.

No, you will not avoid foreclosure.
No, your marriage will not be resurrected.

Other times, there seems to be no reason for the No. How can sin or the idea of someone else needing something more justify some of the No’s we receive? How can we go on when this happens?

No, your baby will not be saved.
No, your child will not be found.

We are hardly the first to receive the No answer. Our trials are not unique but rather, our most painful No’s are the same No’s all people have experienced for thousands of years. In the Bible, we find many instances of God saying no to His followers.

God said no when Moses hoped to make it to the Promised Land.
God said no when King David’s son died.
God even said no to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane – twice.

Often times we do not know the reason behind the No’s we receive. This doesn’t mean there isn’t a purpose to them. It doesn’t mean we can’t mourn for them, but it also doesn’t mean we have to be consumed by them.

When presented by Life’s no’s, we are also presented with choices. We may choose to stamp our feet and act like a  petulant child, or we can use our experiences to help others and to treasure all the blessings God says Yes to.

With every no, there is a yes to something else. That yes, may be caked in countless layers of sorrow and pain, but the yes is there if we simultaneously wait patiently and search actively.

Never give up.

How have the No’s in your life affected you? Can you find any Yes’s to those No’s?

God Bless…