When God Says No...

For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11, KJV).

Have you ever been in a season where it just felt like there was one closed door after another? I mean to the extent that it felt like a door was opening just so that it could be slammed shut right in your face before you could even walk through it…Does that sound familiar? You think there’s a yes around the corner and then boom, God hits you with a NO…It can be hard, uncomfortable, and just plain frustrating. You feel like nothing is working out the way that you want it to and it almost feels like the more you move forward, the more it feels like you’re not moving at all. What would happen if you removed the “feeling” aspect out of this thought? What would happen if instead of being emotionally led, you were led by the Holy Spirit and you allowed God to reveal to you what He is truly saying in His no…

When we look at Psalm 84:11, it tells us that God will not withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly. Let’s break this down right quick; If God doesn’t keep any good thing from those who are blameless, could that possibly mean that even in Him saying no and closing a door, in reality it’s still a yes because it works out for your good? Am I the only one hearing Travis Green’s Intentional playing right now? Ya’ll better catch that Romans 8:28 reference! It’s so easy to get frustrated with the no’s, upset with the closed doors, and discouraged by what are perceived to be missed opportunities when in reality if it was for you…it would’ve been for you. Don’t confuse the fact that simply because you have a desire for something that it means that it’s good for you or God’s will for you. Some of you are beating on closed doors for jobs, relationships, opportunities, and whatever else that you want so badly that you’ve allowed the desires of your heart to silence the warning that God is trying to relay to you in His no. You have to understand that anything that God withholds from you is for your good, so perhaps that “no” that you’re fighting is actually protecting you.

Let’s break Psalm 84:11 down a little further…a lot of times when we read scripture, we like to quote/memorize the parts that benefit us. We like to say, “the bible says that the Lord will give me the desires of my heart” yet we leave out the “delight yourself in Him” part. Likewise, we like to reference the part that God will not withhold anything from us but we nicely and quickly disregard the latter half of “from them that walk uprightly.” When God is giving you a no, sometimes it’s because you need to do a life check. The world has created this misguided expectation that you can live however you want to and do whatever you want to and God will bless you and your mess because He is a God of love…Nah it doesn’t quite work like that. The bible clearly tells us “be ye holy, as I am holy” so in other words there is a standard in place. You can’t live like hell Monday through Saturday and then turn around with your hand out expecting God to do what you want Him to do in exchange for your church attendance on Sunday. Let’s be clear, you don’t live a life that is pleasing to God simply so you can get stuff from Him; it doesn’t work like that either. It’s not about manipulating Him into blessing you or giving you the things that you want. You live a lifestyle that is pleasing to Him out of reverence, because of who He is, because of the sacrifice that He gave in His Son for you to be reconciled back to Him, because presenting yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to Him is the least that you could do…When you read through Psalm 84, you can clearly see the focus is God, the heart’s desire is God, and there’s a longing for His presence; it’s not selfish. Sometimes God gives you a no to reveal the truth about your heart and to reveal the fleshly desires that point back to you instead of Him. 

Alright singles, can we have a heart to heart right quick? How many times have you logged into social media and scrolled through your timeline only to see that someone else is announcing their engagement? Now some of you might get excited and think “yay!” but there’s a large majority that spread that petty mayonnaise and think "they’re not even saved!” or “how she get a man?” or our favorite one, “when is it going to be my turn?” Everybody posting pictures with boo, bae, or whatever else the kids are saying these days, and you’re just single with absolutely no options. Maybe you're in a relationship that you know isn't God's best for you but you took matters into your own hands because you didn't want to be single anymore. Even though God told you no, you convinced yourself that it was better to be with someone than to be by yourself. Trust me when I say that you can't afford to yoke yourself up with just anybody! When God is giving you a no on a person it is for your good but it's difficult to hear/see the NO when you constantly have seat fillers that aren't supposed to be there.

I get that it can be frustrating when you feel like you're waiting on God and all you're getting is a no. Early on in my walk, I felt like God didn’t want me to be with anybody. It literally felt like He had me in the secret services witness protection program in heaven because there were absolutely zero prospects in sight. If I met anyone that I thought might even be a possibility, God would shut it all the way down. No one was sliding in my DMs, no exes were trying to get that old thing back, no one was giving me a second glance or anything! I’m thinking to myself…I love God, I’m decent looking, and on a good day I’m relatively funny so what’s really going on God, I want to be married! God nicely had to show me that He had me in a season where I was hidden and it wasn’t just to protect me from counterfeit men but it was also to protect a good godly man from me. Ya’ll aint catch that last part…God knew during that time that I didn’t need to be in a relationship because I would have made an idol out of it. He also knew that there were some characteristics within me that He needed to prune and correct before He yoked me up with one of His sons. You see, sometimes you receive a no because you aren’t as ready as you think that you are for the yes that you want so badly.

Lastly, Psalm 84:12 reminds you that blessed is the man that trust in God. A part of trusting in God is also trusting in His timing; that includes when it doesn’t line up with your timetable. Perhaps God’s no is not as much a no, as it is a “not right now” so don’t forfeit the yes later on simply because you're impatient with the “no” right now. This is a temporary season of your life and you have to realize that so much can change in a year, a month, and even a day so don’t miss what is next simply because you were impatient and uncomfortable in your current. God’s timing is perfect. 

Stay encouraged! ​

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