When God says, “No”

When God says, “No”

by Rick Walker

There is perhaps nothing that tries our faith more than when God answers our prayer with a “No.” I am certain many of us know of Christians who lost their faith and walked away from the Lord because He did not give them the desires of their heart. I have also talked to people who say they would never become a Christian because He did not do what they wanted when they prayed to Him. Dealing with God’s “No’s” is truly a test of faith!

Sometimes those “No” answers come at the expense of someone we love. Perhaps it is a sickness or some other calamity which has befallen them. We ask God to intervene, but His answer is “No”! This is difficult to accept. This even happened to someone God called, “a man after His own heart,” 1 Samuel 13:14. King David’s newborn son became gravely ill. David prayed and fasted for 7 days! But in the end, the child died. David arose, bathed, and ate a meal. When asked about his response, David said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’ But now that the child has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me,” 2 Samuel 12:22-23. He had God’s answer. Nothing (not anger, not harming himself, etc.) would change it. It was time to move forward!

Other times these “No” answers come at our own expense. The apostle Paul asked three times for the Lord to remove something from his life. God’s response, was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for [My] power is perfected in [your] weakness,” 2 Corinthians 12:9a. What was Paul’s reaction to that answer – anger, tears, cursing God? He responded, “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me,” v. 9b. He accepted God’s answer and saw in it a reason to glorify God!

Even Jesus received a “No” answer to a prayer, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me,” Matthew 26:39a. He knew that the cross would separate Him from His Father for the first time in all eternity and He did not want that to happen. Yet He understood even God’s “No” answers are given out of His love. So He went on to pray, “…yet not as I will, but as You will,” v. 39b. And because of this, all mankind now has the opportunity to spend our eternity in heaven with our Lord!

Sometimes a “No” is the most loving thing a teacher, a parent, or even God can say. For in His case, the scriptures teach, “We know that God causes all things [even “No” answers] to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose,” Romans 8:28!

STORMS

STORMS

By Keith Bellamy

Up until 2005 most of the people in our area had not experienced a hurricane. If you lived on the Gulf Coast like some of us had, you knew there was a possibility that a hurricane would come.

A religious man was interviewed recently on a major news network about the storm that hit North Carolina. He was asked where God was during all the destruction and deaths that resulted from the storm. His answer was right on. He said that God was there even in the storm. And he said this may be God’s intervention to get our attention. Now while I may not agree with the man on every point I have to admire him standing up for God. We certainly need to have a wakeup call sometimes.

Why is God blamed when there are storms? For that matter, why is God blamed period.

My God loved us enough to deliver us to His Father in heaven. That should be enough. There is an old Stamps-Baxter song that says, “Where Can I go but to the Lord.” Where else can I go?

But we live in a corrupt society. And the society in Jesus’s day was corrupt, too.

Where do you go when the storm hits? My wife tells about going down in a cellar in North Texas when she was a little girl. A tornado was heading their way and her dad carried her into the cellar for protection. Her father wanted to protect his family.

In a very real sense our Father in heaven wants to protect us. He has made it possible for us to be protected from the evil one. However, I can only have that protection on His terms. He said, He was the Way (John 14:6).

When the storm comes we need to be prepared.

We need to be prepared for that heavenly journey.

Are you?

Are You Faithful?

Are You Faithful?

By Keith Bellamy

Are you faithful?

That is a powerful question!

Recently I was asked if someone was faithful? I am not sure what you use to determine if someone is faithful or not. I never found a question like that in the New Testament.

I do find where Paul corrected the Corinthians for feeling they were better than others. He said in 2 Corinthians. 13:5, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” (NASB)

Yes, test yourself…examine yourself! Burton Coffman made a statement once that went something like this. “It is not our job to be fruit inspectors.” He was right.

I cannot count the times I have had people come to me criticizing another Christian for being unfaithful. And then after listening to them, the standard they use is not even Biblical.

There is another passage in the book of James:“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.” (James 1: 22-24) (NASB)

Could someone look in a mirror and forget what they looked like?

Years ago, a man who worked with my dad, related how he had been describing a certain person. He said the individual was ugly. The older man he was talking to asked him if he had looked in the mirror lately to see what he looked like. That man said stopped making those comments about anyone!

Aren’t you glad God looks at the heart of an individual and not at their appearance (1 Samuel 16:7)?

Aren’t you glad God is the judge, and not you?