Have you ever had one of those moments, when you are unexpectedly jolted by something so striking in the Scriptures, leading you to reflect more deeply and so being led into a time of powerful meditation upon the things of God? Rarely do such occurrences happen without leaving you wondering why you were so struck and what circumstance might be ahead for which such light through the word of God is sent to direct your steps.
Recently, I was literally jolted wide awake while having my evening Bible reading in bed, at a late hour when the sound of the approaching footsteps of sleep grew increasingly louder. Usually, I would replace my bedside bible in its place, and drift off into slumber at the end – sometimes before the end – of the passage. That night, the sense of sleep instantly vanishing was palpable, as my mind was enabled to take in what I had just read, stirring up the thoughts shared briefly below.
What was that passage which struck so deep? It was 1 Chronicles 28:1-7, specifically the words at verses 2-3, highlighted below. The passage says this:
Now David assembled at Jerusalem all the leaders of Israel: the officers of the tribes and the captains of the divisions who served the king, the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possessions of the king and of his sons, with the officials, the valiant men, and all the mighty men of valour. Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Hear me, my brethren and my people: I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made preparations to build it. But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood. However the Lord God of Israel chose me above all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for He has chosen Judah to be the ruler. And of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. Now He said to me, ‘It is your son Solomon who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father. Moreover I will establish his kingdom forever, if he is steadfast to observe My commandments and My judgments, as it is this day.’
For King David, the ‘man after [God’s] own heart’ (Acts 13:22), who desired a good and godly thing, a holy work for the Lord God Almighty for His glory, the answer of God concerning this was ‘No’. As my thoughts began to be taken up with this theme – of when God says ‘No’ – other instances of were brought to mind:
- when Abraham desired his son Ishmael to be the one with whom Almighty God would establish the everlasting covenant with, God said, ‘No’ – He chose Isaac, Abraham’s son through Sarah instead (Genesis 17 – note verses 18-19);
- when Isaac desired his eldest son Esau to receive the blessing of the LORD, God said ‘No’ – He chose Jacob instead (Genesis 25:23; Genesis 27, Malachi 1:2-3, Romans 9:9-13);
- when Moses beseeched the LORD God to allow him to enter into the Promised Land, Canaan, God said ‘No’ – He chose Joshua instead to lead Israel into their Promised Land (Deuteronomy 3:23-29; Numbers 27:12-23);
- when David the King beseeched God for the life of the son which Bathsheba bore to him after his sin, of adultery with her resulting in her pregnancy, then having her soldier husband killed in the war Israel was then fighting, so that he could marry her and cover his sin, God said ‘No’ – David’s deep and genuine contrition and repentance (see Psalm 51) did not change that (2 Samuel 11-12:25, note particularly 2 Samuel 12:15-19);
- when the Lord’s Apostles, John and James, affronted by some who refused to receive Yeshua, wanted to call down fire from heaven to burn them up, God said ‘No’ – He said, “For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:51-56);
- when Peter the Apostle wanted to use his sword to physically fight against those sent to arrest Yeshua on the night that He was betrayed, God said ‘No’ – ‘Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:51-54; Mark 14:44-47; Luke 22:47-51; John 18:3-11);
- when Paul the Apostle earnestly beseeched the Lord for deliverance from the ‘thorn in the flesh…a messenger of Satan’, God said ‘No’ – God gave Paul grace to bear the trial, not deliverance from it (2 Corinthians 12:1-9, note particularly verses 8-9).
I am sure there are other instances recorded in Scripture of where God says ‘No’ but these are they which came to mind. In each case there are powerful lessons to be gleaned from the responses and continuing conduct of each of these faithful servants and beloved children of God after the Lord said ‘No’.
They didn’t stop believing God (although Peter had that ‘dark night of his soul when he denied the Lord in the night of His arrest before His crucifixion, he returned to His faith, Luke 22:31-32), they didn’t stop trusting in God, they didn’t stop obeying God, they didn’t stop serving God and they didn’t go into a hissy fit when called to either implement or accept God’s alternative. They continued to walk humbly with their God (Micah 6:8) until He called them Home to glory. Not one, no, not one of God’s promises to them failed. The one true God, who does not change, remained as He always was:
‘The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me’
(Exodus 34:5-7 & Exodus 20:5-6).
As the Lord God also declares, ‘For I am the LORD, I do not change’ (Malachi 3:6a).
For those of us who have received God’s grace in Lord Yeshua’s gift of forgiveness of sins, saving faith and new life in Him, it is never an easy experience when God says ‘No’ – when His answer to deep hearted, earnest prayer concerning a seemingly good thing desired is ‘No’. If we are not careful, for a moment of time we can forget whose we are and, who we are in Him who calls us His beloved children (consider e.g. 1 John 3:1-2) and give way to the pain and perplexity. Yet in that moment, we have God’s grace extended to us, if we will take it, to help us come back to a right mind and – as those faithful ones mentioned above – to a right purpose. That purpose is to know our God, the God we serve and follow and love. To know that whatever the alternative to that which God has said ‘No’ to is, as we abide in Messiah Yeshua and His truth, it is well and will be well. Let’s be clear – as we see in the cases above, this in no way means that it will be easy for us, but, if we are willing to learn what our Lord would have us learn from His ‘No’ in the particular situation, it will come to work out for good (Romans 8:28). How important it is to hold on to an eternal perspective during our lives here on Earth, particularly in these dark and bewildering days of evil and wickedness let loose in the world, as our Lord forewarned would come and increasingly so in these end times.
The Lord in His grace and mercies, through each answer of ‘No’ continues to teach needful deeper lessons such as, among other things:
- the sovereignty of Almighty God in all and over all – that truly, He reigns over all;
- that far above our own plans and purposes are the ways and thoughts of God (Isaiah 55:8-9);
- submitting to and in the will of God, coming under His mighty hand(1 Peter 5:5-6); and
- grace for the continuing on, persevering in loving and faithful obedience in the proving of faith through life’s circumstances and vicissitudes – i.e. that the faith imparted and obtained from God is genuine, and will be found genuine as stated in 1 Peter 1:6-7. It is not correct to think in terms of us trying to prove to God – or anyone else – that we have the faith which comes from God! He already knows what is in us and what is not and He sees the end from the beginning. The faith which comes from Him will prove itself and show what manner of entry it has in us, even as yeast in dough proves the bread!
Truly – as I came to experience in some measure again shortly after the above meditations – it is not easy, and there may be quite a few moments of having to swallow hard and consciously seek the rest there is for us in Lord Yeshua (Psalm 46:1). Yet, consider again the godly examples in Scripture (and around us in The Body of Messiah) whose heart were/are so set upon the Lord God, that whatever the heartache from when God says ‘No’, they were not moved from loving and obeying God. May the Lord grant us mercy and grace to seek Him for such a heart and, having the compass of our hearts so set into this position, the grace to persevere in doing His will.
Let me leave you with this thought: though it may be really tough in some particular situations to process and deal with things when God says ‘No’ and we must, as His children accept His will for us, however maybe, just maybe – that ‘No’ was really, ‘Not yet’. Either way, in Lord Yeshua, it is well.
Until He comes or calls, Shalom and God bless.
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