When The Answer Is No

A woman makes the mistake of walking down the toy aisle in the department store. Her three small children begin to ask for their favorite toys. The woman, in a hurry, politely tells the children that they can’t buy toys right now. But the children persist and begin to make a very public scene. The mother finally relents and buys the toys. The children are happy, but not for long. At the checkout register, they spot candy. The cycle begins again, with the children demanding, the mother denying their requests, the children persisting, and the mother finally relenting. What have the children learned? Is it right to give your children everything they want?

As we grow up, we grow out of this practice of demanding whatever we want. Or do we? What about the husband who demands that his wife give him everything he wants? When she won’t or can’t, he goes out to find someone who will. What about the ambitious employee who is not getting all he/she wants from an employer? He/she may change jobs frequently or start stealing from the employer.

But you say, “I am not like that! ” Maybe you or I don’t go to those extremes, but I think we show the same attitudes in smaller ways. Perhaps we simply give a cold shoulder to the one who denies us what we want. Maybe we react with anger like all the “Karens” outed on social media these days.

How do we react if God says no to our request? King David had this happen. David was a man after God’s own heart. Yet when David wanted to build a temple for God, God said no. God had blessed David mightily up to this point, making him king and giving him victory over his opponents. But God denied this request. Everything went downhill for David after that. David went back to war. He sinned with Bethsheba and killed her husband. Their child died. David’s son rebelled against his father.

How do we react when God says no? Do we accept the negative answer and move forward in the knowledge that God knows best? Or do we rebel and do what we want anyway. Rebellion has terrible consequences. God is good and is able to give the very best to us. We need to trust Him, even when He says no to our request.