Sometimes GOD Says No!

The fact that I woke up at 5:00am on my own this morning and have tossed and turned, as this post mulled over and over in my head...I knew there was only one thing to do!  Get up and write it down!

Sometimes God says no!  No one ever likes to hear NO!  Whether you are tiny or a grown adult being told no, it is never fun!  It makes things a bit more complicated when it is God who says No.  Despite your prayers, despite your agonizing, despite your tears, despite your promises, despite your hopes and dreams, despite the prayers of the righteous, despite fasting, despite medical intervention and the best that man can do....sometimes God says no! Please don't stop reading at this point!!

I have been mulling and living this thought for the past five years. 

When God says no it is for many reasons.  It is because He is GOOD!  It is because He has Plans and Purposes that man does not know.  It is because Heaven is at stake. When God says no, it changes the course of lives.  He says no because He sees vulnerable humans who want to know and experience Him and He longs to reveal Himself to them.  He says no because He is writing a story that only He can finish!  He says no because He sees that His saying no can help others see him more clearly.  He says no because He sees the big picture and He knows that it is good. 

He says No because He knows that in the No... He is sufficient.  He feels their hurts and is a man himself well acquainted with sorrow.  He knows that He will be there giving sufficient grace for each day. He knows that He will be there in that small little hospital room.  He will be there as he takes his last little breath.   He will be there as the tiny blue casket is lowered in the ground.  He will be there as they drive away...leaving.  He will be there as they mourn. 

And in the No, when there are no prayers left to be prayed.  Nothing left to try.  When the last tear falls...there is God.  His presence is and was enough to make you think you were standing on Holy Ground.  He presence was so real that you could never again doubt Him!  His sweet presence was so real and precious, that in a strange way you long to go back to that day just to experience that closeness and dependence again.

I do imagine that if God never said no...one might just miss out on some of what life is really all about. 

Happy 5th Birthday in Heaven to the most precious no God has ever bestowed on me.