What
Happens When God Says “No”?
By
Shelley Hooper
“‘For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the
Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”
Isaiah
55:8-9
I have spent much of my life
quoting the above Scripture, believing that I believe it. Believing that it is
a GOOD thing that God’s thoughts are not my thoughts, that my ways are not His
ways. Of course that’s good, right? Right! Unless… we are struggling to
understand why His ways seem so different from ours. Have you ever been in a
place where the path seemed clear and obvious to you, but God had different
plans? Have you ever wondered why He closed a door that you spent years trying
to open? Has your plan ever seemed so obviously right and good that you can’t
believe that God’s plan was different? Sometimes what can seem so obvious to us
can result in a shocking “no” from God.
I recently was given a
resounding “no” from God… again. A “no” that just keeps returning and
returning. A “no” that I have heard from Him many times before. Now, some of
you may wonder why I keep asking. I’m not sure myself. I only know that the
mountain in front of me needs to move some time. So I keep trying to find my
way around it. At times, I can look back at the various “no’s” that He has
given and be grateful. Other times, I am left shaking my head. I do not
understand how God is at work here. This latest “no” was one of the most
painful He’s given me in a while. But here is what I know that I know that I
know: God IS at work here. Despite my pain and confusion, God has a plan that
is perfect.
So that’s what it comes down
to, right? We either believe what we say we believe or we don’t. We either take
God at His Word or we don’t. We either trust Him with our lives—indeed, our
everything—or we don’t. Maybe I will never know why I have stood on this side
of the mountain for all of these years. Maybe it will be abundantly clear when
I get to heaven. It really doesn’t matter. What matters is that when I stand
before God, I don’t have to apologize for not trusting Him with my everything.
I will choose, even in this moment, to trust that God’s ways are higher than
mine.
GOING DEEPER:
1. Do you have a mountain in
front of you? Are you trusting God for the way around?
2. Has God recently told you
“no”? Do you believe that He has a plan that is greater than yours?
FURTHER READING:
Shelley, along with her husband Tom, is the Director of Worship
and Creative Arts at Oakwood Church. She is also the mother of three growing
boys and a middle school choir director.
