I Love You and the Answer is No

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! – Matthew 7: 9-10

We are humans. Inevitably, that means we are flawed. It means we will not always have the wherewithal to ask God for the things that we should ask Him for. We will not always have the intellect to stay away from things that can cause us harm. Sometimes, we are not able to tell the difference between what appears to be bread and what might be a serpent. Thank goodness our Heavenly Father does!

This passage promises that if we ask our Father for bread, He will not give us stone. If we ask Him for fish, He will not give us a snake. In other words, God promises to not give us anything that will cause us harm or be unprofitable for us. This means that if we think we are asking for fish but we are actually asking for a serpent, God will not give it us! Hallelujah!

Although, most of us tend to feel discouraged, or even angry, when the Father does not grant us what we ask for, we all have to be grateful. Why? God’s refusal to say yes could be the only thing keeping life’s serpents at bay. As believers, we have to learn to trust God even when the answer is no. This does not mean you will not experience feelings of disappointment, anger or resentment. When the Father says no, emotions like that are to be expected. It does mean, however, that at the end of the day our prayer is—and should always be—not my will Father but yours be done. I trust you Gracious God and I know that you desire only what’s best for me; and I only want the best that you have for me.

We have to learn to trust our Heavenly Father. We have to learn to accept that His no’s are every bit as important as His yea’s. We have to believe that when He says I will withhold no good thing from you that He actually means it. We have to exercise our faith by trusting Him to orchestrate our lives. To trust Him, we have to get to know His character and His heart. To do that, we have to read study and meditate on His holy word.

Doubting God is not a luxury we can afford. With doubt comes fear and with fear come confusion, disobedience, and pain. The Talmud, a Jewish text, says doubt cannot override certainty. When God says no, let’s thank Him for His faithfulness. Let’s worship Him in spite of what we think may be a set back or total loss.

 

©2010-2013 Minister Claretta Taylor Pam, Global Ecumenical Ministries Inc. and Universal Life Church Monastery of Massachusetts. All Rights Reserved