2009 – Day 135.May 16 – When God Says No

2009 – Day 135.May 16 – When God Says No

Passage of the Day: 2nd Samuel 7: 4 – 17 … Link to 2nd Sam. 7 for study …

My Journal for Today: Isn’t it stifling at times when God says, “No;” and you had plans that seemed so God honoring? And as we read in today’s passage, sometimes God’s “No” is not chastisement or a penalty for sin. No, it may just be God redirecting us for our own good and/or for His glory.

God’s plan can be a mystery to us. Read and meditate here on Isaiah 55: 8 – 9, which says, "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.” That’s a humbling directive, isn’t it? God is God; and we are not! It can really be just that simple at times when we diligently following God with commitment and direction. But we let our feelings and/or our pride get in the way.

We FEEL (and the operant word there is “feel”) that we should go in one direction for God; but we sense from Him that He says, “No, go in this other direction, which is My direction.” And we can’t understand why God would take us in another way than the one we FEEL is the way we should go. David would have loved to build a temple for God; but God said, “No, it will be your son who does that.” That wasn’t a punishment for David’s pridefulness or sinfulness. It was simply God being God.

But, … Ouch! That had to have hurt David’s pride; and maybe that was exactly the point. All too often it may be our pride that causes us to FEEL that we should go one way; and God needs for us to be humble, so He takes us in another direction, which will glorify His Name; and it hurts our pride.

Oh, this pride thing is a bug-a-boo, isn’t it? I sometimes wonder why God gave mankind the capability of being prideful. But then again, if we couldn’t choose pride over humility, the concept of “faith” would have no meaning. If we were automatons for God, He would really not get the glory, as He does when we, by faith, choose humility and set aside pride to follow God, especially when the outcome seems so mysterious to us.

David needed to learn that lesson as God was teaching him through the Prophet, Nathan. And so do we need to learn that lesson today. … Hey, dear one who might be reading this; … will you join me in covenant with God today, that we won’t let our feelings get in the way of God’s direction for our lives? Join me in praying to God that we allow Him to take us wherever He would lead us for our good and His glory. Let’s declare His directive from that verse I quote so often in my devotionals, Luke 9: 23, which is Christ saying to any or all of His disciples, "Just follow Me!”

My Prayer for Today: My Lord, I need to say it every day … You are God and I am not! Amen