When intercession saturates a matter, when prayer and fasting go before us, when we rally others to join us in the Throne Room, when we believe we are asking according to the will of God — and God says, “No”— what are we to do?
Recently, with the blow of a NO, the Holy Spirit gently guided me to live in the passage of Scripture found in Habakkuk 3:17-18. The prophet wrote:
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
Why is this particular portion of the Bible so crucial for gaining mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional traction? The words though and yet unlock the answer.
“Our heavenly Father never asks us to deny the facts. ”
Our heavenly Father never asks us to deny the facts. Though acknowledges the facts; Yet acknowledges God! We stare at facts, and then we make the decision to stare into the Face of God.
When you and I decide to turn from the disappointment of our circumstances to the delight of His Person (from the emptiness of our realities to the security of His Sovereignty) we discover a strength and stability beyond belief. The sweetness of His No satisfies more deeply than all imaginations of our human concoctions of Yes. He saves us from ourselves and supernaturally enables us to move forward and move upward, to the heights above the bare vines, failed crops, empty pens, and vacant stalls of our lives.
You and I are left with one more question: What will I do when God says, “No”?
Living With Eternal Intentionality®
“He has also set eternity in the heart of man” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
What are we to do when:
Healing seems unlikely.
A relationship breaks off.
The promotion goes to a colleague.
A pregnancy remains unrealized.
The entrance exam misses the mark.
A job opportunity falls through.
A business deal collapses.
Visits to the ICU grow more frequent.
Yet another adoption possibility suffers denial.
A pathology report returns positive.
An interview gets turned down.
A long-prayed prayer is denied.
Praising Him in hard places is pure praise indeed. We must make the choice to turn to His Word: “But the righteous will live by faith” (Habakkuk 2: 4).
What situation do you recall when you experienced our topic: When God Says “No”?
How did you move forward to embrace His will?
Your input is valued. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
