When God says NO
Topic: When God says NO
Main Scripture Reading : 2 Cor 12:7-10
All Bold emphasis on scriptures is mine
7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
2 Cor 12:7-8
Introduction and Background
In the above passage we encounter the personal life experience of Paul. He says that there was a messenger of Satan sent to buffet him, popularly known and rightly quoted by many Christians as a ‘thorn in the flesh’. He besought the Lord thrice, so that the thorn would depart from him.
Paul was not an ordinary believer as we all know. He was not taking God casually in his walk. Neither was he just a Sunday Christian. As he says in the above Scriptures, he had so many revelations that some people ended up failing to understand what he was saying (2 Peter 3:16)
These are the kinds of people that we would think have a green card with God when they go to pray. It would be hard to think that God would not do anything they ask from Him. We would think it would be a guaranteed ‘Yes’, always. Especially when they present a problem that seemed as painful as a thorn in the flesh.
I am amazed at God’s response. He did not say sure why not, I will remove this immediately, though He could.
But He said,
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Cor 12:9
Ladies and gentleman, this is a No, without directly mentioning the word NO.
This got me thinking, what does it mean when God says NO or when He gives an unexpected answer which indirectly still says NO.
MEANING 1: GO AHEAD DESPITE
One man embarked on a 21 day fasting and prayer program and he was addressing problems that he was facing and asking God for a breakthrough. The man said around day 17 he started having dreams of preaching to many people. Night after night, the dreams were talking about ministry. One night someone in his hometown had a dream about him ministering and another overseas had a similar dream and these 2 people who did not know each other shared the same dream with him. God was showing him preaching night after night. God never commented (not directly) about the issues he had approached Him in prayer for. The problems did not go away.
He was not praying for ministry at all but God spoke about ministry.
What could this have meant? Was God ignoring? Did He not care?
Mr MOG, perhaps the grace that you need to overcome these challenges will be released as you do His work.
His No can mean ‘despite it all, my grace is sufficient for you.’
What was the thorn?
There are many theories about Paul’s thorn in the flesh.
Below are some of the theories;
Some say Paul had teary eyes and these kept on releasing tears continually, somehow disturbing him as he ministered.
Some say the thorn was some kind of terrible disease that seemed not to go away. Probably the eye disease mentioned above or any other kind.
Consider this,
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Cor 12:10
It could have been anything really.
I tend to believe it was more of the persecution that he faced in the work of God, mainly because of how he describes these in an earlier chapter. 2 Cor 11: 23-33
I will just cite a bit...
From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;
2 Cor 11:24-25
If we agree that this was persecution then this was not light persecution. If this is what he was asking God to be removed, this was a serious prayer request.
Still God said NO but He gave grace.
He knows what is best for us.
Our duty is to pray. We wait on Him and we trust in Him.
The enemy will always try to stop or hinder the purpose of God
We preach despite it all
God is saying 'do my work, preach despite it all.'
Look at this,
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
Isaiah 43:2
The key word is THROUGH
You will not fly past the waters.
How else will you learn to swim?
How else will you learn to focus on Him?
How else will you experience God’s power and love in times of trouble?
There is a certain understanding of God that you have to gain despite it all Indeed if one person has gone through the fire, their understanding of how God operates is different from the one who hasn’t gone through similar experiences.
Consider this…
And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Acts 4:31
The Bible speaks of the disciples and how they were being persecuted for preaching in the name of Jesus.
What shook was the place where they were - the environment. What God wants shaken will be shaken and you see the evidence of the power of prayer.
Who was troubling these men? The chief priests, the scribes….
If only this was happening from the area where I come from these would be the prayer points…
Chief Priest die by fire !
Scribe fall down and die!
I paralyse you chief priest!
Let the chief priest, elders and rulers be!
God had a better answer, boys preach despite it all.
Despite it all, we get something from the Holy Spirit - boldness, grace, supernatural strength
What God is not thinking of shaking will not be shaken
What God wants shaken will be shaken
Let us consider the Boarnerges vs Jesus…
And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, [j]just as Elijah did?”
55 But He turned and rebuked them, [k]and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 [l]For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.
Luke 9:54-56
Most of the times we want our answers to prayer to be as per what we are expecting.
Although this may not be a bad thing, sometimes our expectations could be opposite to what the master has in mind.
The Boarneges were thinking thunder and lightning, WHAM!, Jesus is thinking peace.
You are thinking, ‘witch die today’, God could be thinking, ‘why don’t I send someone to preach to her and save her soul?’.
You are even quoting a scripture, ‘suffer not the witch to live’.
Sometimes what we must do is break that system that the witch has established.
What does God have in mind? What if He is saying let salvation knock on this person’s door. As for you I will save you despite what this person is doing.
You will walk through it, You will come out victoriously.
You are more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus! Hallelujah!
‘…and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.’
There was a transformation that came from the prayer. The disciples changed, not the chief priests, but the disciples.
We have heard that many times what has to change is you. How so true!
Our duty is to pray, not to answer our own prayers! We are not praying to ourselves.
Let God be God.
You pray, you trust Him and let Him be.
I heard someone say, do not ask Him to drive and you don’t get out of the driver’s seat. How so true!
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MEANING 2: NO, NOT NOW
There are times when the NO from God, simply means Not now/ Later.
Consider the below;
Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.
Acts 16:6
If we were to discuss about preaching, preaching is good any day to anyone, right? or so it seems. In Acts 16:6, Paul is forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach to Asia.
However, consider this verse,
But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
Acts 19:9-10
Initially, at some point in Paul’s journey, he could not go to preach to Asia but later on, he returns and he does preach in the same area he had been forbidden to speak.
Sometimes his No does not necessarily mean Never but it can mean Later.
Why would God say Later?
Perhaps you are not ready to face the battles that are associated with your request.
You probably need to mature a bit more in character, tenacity or your viewpoint on things.
Perhaps according to His plan, it is not yet the right time.
God is perhaps putting things in order.
The list is endless.
As you are praying for a particular breakthrough that you are desiring, what is God saying? The problem is that when we go to prayer, we want our requests attended to Now! We forget that we have God who sees and knows everything. He knows what is best for us at any particular time. He also knows what we can handle at any particular time.
I have heard of men who suddenly became rich and married 4 additional wives. When they were not yet that rich, they were content with 1 woman, she meant the world to them.
Win the lottery, add the mouths! 😂
Before we get to all this, how should women pray for their husbands? God, don’t give him money, he can’t handle it!
God shut down his appetite for women?
Women want to protect their marriages. What should the prayer be exactly?
Some women went to school and suddenly became too educated for the husbands who sent them to school.
The dynamics are crazy when you observe them!
Whichever the case maybe, when God says No, it is a wise move to discern what the No specifically means. If it is a later, we keep our eyes and ears open such that when the time is right, we move.
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MEANING 3: NO, NOT THIS ONE, I HAVE SOMETHING BETTER FOR YOU
His NO can and definitely means ‘I have something better for you’
There is a route that you may want to take but God has a better option for you.
One MOG testified that he wanted to open a church branch in a new area. He got a potential venue which was owned by a certain man. When the time came for payments and sealing the agreement to start using the venue, the owner just wouldn’t answer the MOGs calls or texts. The MOG was asking God why, despite having prayed for this over and over still there was no response from the owner. He then started looking for a new place and got a similar place for 25% of the rent he had been charged at the other place where the owner ghosted him. Hallelujah!
I would take it God was saying no not this one, there is something better out there.
This is usually a challenge with youth in making choices. Once something looks good we want to go for it. Especially when we have been praying. Not all that glitters is gold. Let us learn to accept God’s No’s
One youth once approached me. She was asking whether the guy who had proposed to be in a relationship with her was good in my opinion. The moment I saw the guy I saw the letter NO flying in the air. It was quite dramatic. It was quite dramatic - seeing the 2 letters NO, flying in the air around me like that- it had never happened before! Since she had mentioned that he had only proposed, I was burning to tell her, I thought God was saying No. when I then discovered that the two were actually in a relationship, I remained silent. After a few months, she discovered the guy was actually married with a family that was living outside our usual area. I then interpreted the No’s I had seen flying. God was definitely saying not this one. The No did not mean that God had anything against her marrying but the No was against this particular man who had lied to her.
Impatience is a terrible disease child of God. If only we could wait a bit more on the Lord, we could get the guidance we need and reduce or eliminate our number of regrets.
MEANING FOUR: NO, NOT YOU
There was a time when David wanted to build a temple for the Lord.
The Prophet Nathan however received a message from God..
5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?
2 Sam 7: 5
Are you the one to do whatever you are asking God to do? To receive what you are asking for? To go where you are asking to go at whatever time you want to go? Are you the one?
Consider this….
12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
2 Sam 7: 12-13
So the temple had to be built, yes definitely. Two things were however misplaced, timing and person. The timing had to be later and the person had to be Solomon.
Consider this as well,
But this word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. 9 But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon,[a] and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign. 10 He is the one who will build a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’
2 Chron 22: 8-10
Consider the splendour with which Solomon then built the temple. (2 Chronicles 4)
Probably David would not have done it this way. Probably, we had to wait for this guy Solomon who had gold all over him!
In as much as you sing so well, leadership of the choir may not be yours!
Similarly for church leadership!
There are always some people who think once they get onto that Pastoral position, they will do a better job. The church will see miracles and angels left right and centre.
It’s a good desire, but church leadership in that capacity, may not be yours!
Ouch!
Conclusion
These days I am now more open to receive His answers without dictating or second-guessing Him. Whether His No means go-ahead-despite, or no,-not-now, or no-not-this-one-I-have-something-better-for-you or no-not-you!, I have realised that God has my best interests at heart.
We often quote Scriptures such as Rom 8:31 which shows us that God is for us, man cannot do anything against us.
Someone once said, God is not for you and against you at the same time. How so true!
Even though a NO, sounds negative, if it comes from God, it may actually be the most positive thing that could ever happen to us.
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