God’s “No”

When it comes to the desires of your heart, are you holding them up in front of God asking what He thinks or are you laying them down before Him asking Him to do with them what He will?  Personally, I’ve often been guilty of the former.  I’ll see something I want, I’ll ask God about it and then become disappointed when it doesn’t work out like I thought it should.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  It seems like no matter how much I mentally prepare, I’m never ready for God to reject my offer.  Sometimes we are so arrogant to assume that God will bless what we present simply because we are asking His opinion.  We place undue emphasis on the gifts and not the Giver.  But the truth is, GOD is the prize…anything else He chooses to do for us is extra.

Philippians 3:8 (AMP) says:

“Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One)…”

Seeking to be cool with God solely for His blessings is like sitting in front of a huge plate of chicken and removing the bones, but leaving all of the meat.  In the end, you’ll still be hungry.  The “priceless privilege” of knowing Christ is the meat, but we often settle for the bones.  Every need you encounter is not just an opportunity for God to blow your mind in the blessing department.  It’s an open door to KNOW Him…and in that knowing, the opportunity to TRUST Him.  God doesn’t just want a say.  He wants complete and total surrender of whatever is on your heart and mind so that you are free to focus on Him.  But more than anything, He wants to be wanted for who He is, not just what He does. 

If you really knew God and were sure of the fact that He loves you without boundaries and has a purpose for your life, you’d know that a wait on Him is NEVER in vain.  Isaiah 64:4 (The Message) says: 

“Since before time began no one has ever imagined, No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you who works for those who wait for him.  You meet those who happily do what is right, who keep a good memory of the way you work.” 

I believe that the reason God’s best isn’t prevalent today is that many don’t have the courage to wait on Him and/or they give up too soon.  Keep waiting and remember all that He has done.  Don’t ever take His silence or the rejection of your perfectly constructed plans personal.  He won’t ever give you anything less than the best.  Accordingly, He wants you to feel the same way about His “no” that you do about His “yes,” simply because He is the one calling the shots.  If something is for you, it will be yours.  If it’s not, it can only get better…