What To Do When God Says No

I have a magazine or two  in the car to pull out and read during times I am waiting for a meeting, to pick up someone, or waiting for an appointment. I was on a short wait before six this morning for the weight room to get unlocked and read a great article by Perry Stone titled, “What to Do When God Says No”. The full article can be found at http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/features/2012/april/32607-what-to-do-when-god-says-no.

Perry Stone, an evangelist, Bible teacher and author writes that God opens doors for His people. Open doors from God mean that something good is happening to us. We are to pray for open doors from God that leads us into a deeper measure of His will for our lives.

Each of us experiences times when we have prayed for open doors, believed for open doors, and expected open doors, but the door was closed. God did not answer and we wonder why. Most of the time, God did answer by doing what we did not expect. He closed the door and said, “No”.

I have prayed for God to open doors that I was certain was His desire and His will for my life. My wife and I saw the door close for buying the farm I grew up on and we pursued options of buying other farms. We wanted an operation that allowed more time for ministry and each time we thought we had something that would work the door closed. When I finally sensed God may be leading me to the path of Bible college and preparation for full time ministry, all the doors opened widely.

Stone reminds us that if God says no, we are in good company. The Bible tells of many people who had a “no” from God. Sometimes God’s answer “No” is a delay of His “Yes”. Abraham and Sarah were promised a child, but the answer was no, until they were past child-bearing years.

Sometimes the no is unexplainable such as the death of a child or a loved one. Stone gives four facts about the unexplainables in life.
1.       We are all going to die. Sooner or later, we all will pass away, so it is not a matter of if, but when.
2.       We live in a violent world. Because of the stain of sin, bad things happen to good people.
3.       We run “red lights”. There are times that God warns us about potential danger and we ignore the warning. People try to beat the red light and crash because they ignored the signal.
4.       God is sovereign. He alone fully sees, fully knows, and fully understands the past, present and future. Determine to trust Him through the good and the bad.

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