- Gerald Vann
I remember one night a while back I was cooking dinner and my daughter asked me for some more crackers. She had already had one bowl full and since it was almost time to eat, I told her no. Little did I know the reaction that would ensue. She got very upset. She walked away with that tiny lip out, walked into the family room, and announced to her Daddy, "I can't have crackers right now." It was the saddest little voice, it even cracked when she was trying to tell him. She then retreated to her indoor playhouse and laid there. It wasn't a temper-tantrum, she was genuinely sad. It broke my heart. I walked over to see if she was ok and she told me, voice still shaking, "Go away, I don't want to talk right now." I sat there for a few seconds and then told her, "Baby girl, just because I said 'no' doesn't mean I don't love you."
I walked away and that statement just hit me. I didn't really think about what to say to her, it just came out...out of my heart and my love for my daughter. I wasn't trying to be mean, I actually had a very valid reason...
I was telling her no to something good so that she would be able to receive something BETTER!But in her little mind, she couldn't see past her immediate disappointment.
How many times, when has God told me no, have I become devastated, upset, angry? Then retreat to my own personal hideout of my soul where I sulk and smother myself in self-pity? I know that it breaks God's heart even more than it did mine when He sees one of His precious children hurting and upset because He told them no. But He has a good reason! It's out of His immeasurable love for us. God's ways are so much higher than ours, how can we expect to fully understand Him in our immature human wisdom? Looking back on my life now, I am SO incredibly grateful that God closed doors that I was praying He would open. He was saying no to those requests so that I would later be able to receive something better. Like my daughter, I was asking for what I wanted, but God gave me what I needed.
The next time God tells YOU no, fight the urge to be led by your emotions. Look past your disappointment, look past what's right in front of you. Trust in the One Who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly beyond all you can ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20)! And remember that just because God said no, it isn't because He doesn't love you. It's because He does.
