God’s No Is Not A Rejection
Last Sunday, while at a fast food, my friends and I played a funny game called “who's the one.” In this game, you give a random number and the person who will enter the door of the store that corresponds to the chosen number will be the one who you will spend the rest of your life with (of course, it’s just a game and for guys, you only count the ladies and vice versa). My friend chose the 11th guy for herself while I chose the 4th girl and the other friend the 5th. We were all so excited and had a good laugh as customers of different ages and statuses entered the store, waiting for our “future” to come in.
Girl #1 came in, then the second. A long pause. Silence. Then my friend asked me to describe what kind of girl I was hoping to see. I said, “with curly hair and dimples.” As the third one entered, “last one,” I thought.
Guess what? While waiting and looking out the window, we saw a woman with curly hair approaching the store. In our amazement, we laughed and stared in awe on how the Lord catered my expectation. Before she entered the store, she took out her phone and called someone, the reason her pacing slowed down. A bomb of thought exploded in my head as she then entered. Why? She has a dimple. A girl with curly hair and a dimple, just as I described. But sadly, she entered as the 5th girl because there came another girl who took the spot as the 4th girl. Not the curly-haired girl with dimple but ANOTHER girl.
We were shocked. Who would have thought that God can speak to us while playing a silly game while waiting for the other singles to come?
He Does Not Always Say YES
Sometimes, we are too focused on what we want and forget to consider what the Lord wants for us. Nothing is wrong when we pray for something and stick to it— that’s faith and perseverance— but that does not mean that He will always grant our requests.
Remember that He is not a genie but a Father who knows what is best for us—His children. God is more concerned on our faith than to grant what we are praying for. As our Father, He provides and gives only what is best because undoubtedly, His plan in our life is to prosper us and not to harm us, that which gives us hope and a future (Jer. 29:11). Sometimes God will remove something you never dreamed of losing because He will replace it with something you never dreamed of having.
We Can Entrust Our Emotions To Him
God holds the pen of our love story. His hands are impeccable to miss something. His penmanship has the greatest stroke in writing. He never write a story that will end in destruction, regrets and sorrow. Unless, you choose the other way.
Jesus knows our emotions, our desires, and our deepest longings. If the Lord says NO to the woman or man that you want, can you still trust Him? Will you still obey God if He says NO to the one who does not even hit the mark of the non-negotiable qualities you are hoping for? Who sits on the throne of your heart? Who has the final word?
If we trust the Lord with our finances, relationships, and our future but not our emotions, it only means that we don't trust Him at all. God instructed His children not to be yoked with an unbeliever, so when a man pursues a woman who has not dedicated her life to the Lord—an unbeliever—and just purely out of affection, it only means that His lordship is compromised. It’s always up to you. But I want to encourage you to trust the Lord with all your heart and not lean on your own understanding and in all your ways—even your love life—acknowledge Him (Pro. 3:5-6).
I tell you, one day you will be thankful to God that He did not give you all that you prayed for. One day you will be mesmerized and in awe of His ways; how things work together for our good even though for us, it is an unanswered prayer. One day, you will understand what Jesus meant when He spoke to Peter, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand” (John 137). When that day come, your heart will only be full of appreciation and nothing but poured out praises and thanksgiving to God.
