Right now I am learning that God sometimes says no. I have to admit, it is the hardest lesson I have yet to learn. See, when God teaches you something, he is not satisfied to leave you with just book knowledge. He want you to learn by experience. And right now, I think God is saying no to a very sincere request of mine. And frankly, I do not understand. Everything I see tells me that my request is good and pleasing and pure and that God would want to grant it to me. But, as my good friend Ryan Nichols said, we have this wrong impression of God. We think that he is some kind of Santa Claus and if we ask him anything, as long as it is moral and does not hurt anybody, he will give it to us. We read “If you ask anything in my (Jesus) name, I will do it” and skip the “in my name”. God does not just answer our prayers because we believe in Christ. He answers them because it is what he would have for us. Of course, that does not mean that we should stop asking. Sometimes God does not bless us because we never ask to be blessed in the first place. But when we do and God says, “no” it is imperative that we remember that sometimes (mostly always) God’s plan is bigger then the scope of our frail human minds and feelings; and in order to bless us as believers far beyond what we can imagine – like he promises – it means he has to say no to what we, at the time, desire the most so he can give us what will bless us the most. It is painful sometimes, but I know that he will work all things together for good (that is another promise he gives to believers).
Righteous.