When God Says “No” (Psalm 84:11)
By: Anne Peterson
Today’s Bible Verse - For the Lord God is a sun and shield, the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. - Psalm 84:11
God meets our needs. We know this because He calls himself Jehovah Jireh, which means The Lord Will Provide. Paul tells us in Scripture God will supply all our needs (Philippians 4:19). But can we talk about something we all find difficult? It’s those times when God says no to us. I’ve had times like that in my life, and I’m sure you have as well.
I had been staying with my brother and his wife, helping them with their brand new son, a beautiful baby boy. I held him, rocked him and loved him at first sight, their first child. After about six days I headed back home to my family, about an hour away. The phone rang.
“Anne, pray! Joseph is all blue. I called 911.”
I paced back and forth, saying over and over, “Not the baby, Lord.”
One hour later I got another call, “He’s gone. They said it was crib death.”
I wrestled with this one for a long time. They never had another child.
Maybe you’ve had God tell you no, even when you pleaded with Him. I confess, I was angry for a long time. But God understood my struggle. It wasn’t the first person we lost, nor would it be the last. In time, I realized I needed to trust God based on who He was, not how many of my prayers He answered. I am a finite being, but God is infinite. His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). This was a hard concept for me to grasp, but eventually I realized that God and I are different, and we don’t think alike.
God knows the future, we don’t. He knows the plans He has for us and those plans are to prosper us, not to harm us (Jeremiah 29:11). The definition of harm is physical injury, especially that which is deliberately inflicted.”
When God says no, He’s not trying to harm us. Does it hurt? Yes. But sickness and death are results of living in this fallen world. One day there will be no more sickness, no more death. But that is when we get to heaven. When God tells us no, it doesn’t mean He doesn’t love us. As parents, we’ve had to tell our children, no, haven’t we? And our intent was not to hurt them, but instead we’ve done it out of love. God is our Heavenly Father. Our walk with God requires faith, just like when we received Christ (Colossians 2:6).
Psalm 84:11 says, “no good thing will He withhold.” How can we understand this when we know the things we’ve been asking for are good? We must remember that we don’t know what God’s purposes are for our individual lives, only God knows.
Job lost ten children and yet, he acknowledged that the Lord gives and takes away (Job 1:21). Job still trusted God. Knowing God is sovereign comforts me. He knows even the number of days we will each live on this earth (Psalm 139:16).
I remember reading the book, Boundaries by Townsend and Cloud. One section talked about being able to accept the word no from someone you loved. It surprised me, because coming from my dysfunctional home, I had believed if someone loved me, they would never tell me no. It took reading that book over and over to fully understand that concept. When you love someone, you can accept their no because your love is greater than one little part. You trust them.
If you are struggling because of a no God has given you, please know I’m praying for you. I’m praying God will draw you to Himself. I’m praying He will continually remind you of how much He loves you. Because no one has ever loved you like God has, and no one ever will.
Out of Love
Father, would you help me see
all the things you’ve given me.
For I confess, sometimes I dwell
on other things that you’ve withheld.
God holds my hand and tells me,
My Child, believe what’s true;
every single choice I make
is out of love for you.
Anne Peterson © 2020
Anne Peterson is a poet, speaker, published author of 16 books, including her latest book, Always There:Finding God's Comfort Through Loss. Anne’s first memoir is: Broken:A story of Abuse, Survival and Hope. She has published children’s books and poetry books, such as Droplets: Poetry for Those in Grief, and He Whispers: Poetic talks with God. Anne is also a regular contributor to Crosswalk.com. Anne’s poetry has been sold in gift stores since 1996. To receive a free eBook, Sign up for Anne’s newsletter at www.annepeterson.com and click the tab. Or connect with her on Facebook.
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