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...the Bible tells me so:
When God Says “No”
How do you respond to a well-meaning loved one or friend who looks at your malady and says, “You brought this on yourself because you do not have the faith to let God take it away”?
I do not know about you. Those words crush my spirit.
It does not matter whether they are talking about some life-threatening illness, an ugly divorce or a drug problem in the family.
Some people, having visions of divine grandeur, act as if they are issuing decrees from God. They quote such passages as Proverbs 18:21, “The tongue has the power of life and death” (NIV), and Mark 11:-24, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
With the first passage, it was said in my case, “Do not say that you have leukemia, because life and death are in the power of the tongue.” According to some one close to me, I cursed myself with that dreaded disease. But, they do not realize that I can no more curse myself with leukemia than I can a broken arm!
The wise man of Proverbs was promoting the power of a good attitude as reflected by the spoken word. If you speak what is in your heart, your life and its outcome will reflect that, whether good or bad. For example, Solomon warned, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23; see Matthew 12:33-35; 15:18-19).
Mark 11:-24 and similar passages are used to promote a “blank check” theology, primarily for health and wealth. I tell God what I want. God gives to me as I have said. If I want a million dollars, I ask God to give me the winning lottery ticket. If I have cancer, I call upon Him to heal me right now.
Please forgive me. I thought that God is Lord, and I am His servant. I did not know that He serves at my beckoning.
There is no question that we must have faith in God to answer our prayers. Yet there is more to prayer than faith. For example, we must not ask from impure motives (James 4:3-4). We must be obedient to the Lord (1 John 3:22) and ask according to His will (5:15).
Our problem, as I see it, is that we practice religious Americanism instead of biblical Christianity. We believe that it is our God-given right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” emphasis on happiness. Consequently, many of us ask, “Why God?” whenever we suffer. Many of us believe that God is against us, whenever we suffer.
Do bad things ever happen to God’s people? Shudder the thought! However, how much Bible study does it take to see that very thing?
I think of Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob. God promised that Joseph would rule over his brothers (Genesis 37:5-11). What happened to get Joseph afterward? His brothers captured him and threatened to murder him. He was sold into Egyptian slavery. His master’s wife falsely accused him of rape. He was thrown into prison and forgotten for years (chapters 37, 39-41).
Even though Joseph was still alive (as if we call that “living”), his father Jacob mourned for him as dead. Jacob suffered horribly, not realizing that his other sons had deceived him.
Where was God in all of this tragedy? Joseph could have said at anytime, “I give up, God. You hate me.” But, no! Joseph’s faith in God was strong. Even in awful circumstances, God blessed him (39:2-5, 21-23). On a much later day, after he was restored to his brothers, Joseph said, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (50:20).
There are many other examples. We can point to Job, Elijah, Isaiah and Jeremiah in the Old Testament. We can point to Stephen, the first Christian killed, to the unnamed Christians persecuted and murdered by Saul of Tarsus, and even to Saul who became the apostle Paul in the New Testament.
Had God abandoned His faithful? If you think like an American, He did. If you think biblically, God was with them throughout their troubles and struggles. God was with them in death!
You would think that if there were anyone to whom God would listen, He would listen to Jesus. However, God told Jesus “No,” when Jesus prayed, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will” (Mark 14:36).
God knows what is best for His people. Where would we be without the cross, that cup of suffering from which Jesus drank? God never promised any of us that we would live forever here on this world. Not even those who were miraculously healed escaped death. God postponed death for a while.
However, God is with us. Three times Paul cried to Jesus to remove his “thorn in the flesh.” Jesus answered, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Life is not about health and wealth. Life is about a healthy relationship with God. Life is about serving our Lord Jesus. Life is about bringing our families and our friends to heaven with us. Life is all about the blessings that come after death. God plans are greater than ours.
As our bodies crumble, our souls are strengthened every day (4:16-18). One day Jesus “will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).
When God says, “No,” let’s hear His “Yes!”
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