When God says "No"

One by one He took them from me,
All the things I valued most,
Until I was empty-handed;
Every glittering toy was lost.

And I walked earth's highways, grieving,
In my rags and poverty.
Till I heard His voice inviting,
"Lift those empty hands to Me!"

So I held my hands towards Heaven,
And He filled them with a store
Of His own transcendent riches
Till they could contain no more.

And at last I comprehended
With my stupid mind and dull,
That God could not pour His riches
Into hands already full!

Not sure what this poem may mean to you, but it is a lesson that I am constantly learning as a Christian. As a child of God, we constantly seek God, and ask from Him, but yet we go to Him with so much in our hands, expecting that we can carry more, expecting more, not realising that God is asking us to drop and let go of somethings, so that He can bless us with the best.

I realise that when we come before God, seeking Him and praying to Him, asking Him to provide, asking Him to bless, we didn't do the part to first seek Him and His heart first. Because if we have, and when God says "no" to us, we'll understand. We'll not blame God when the things don't happen the way we plan it. We'll not be upset and disappointed with God, because we know that He has something greater in store for us.

I was reading about David; YES, David, my favourite character in the Bible....Again, learning from Him. I am sure His heart must have pained so much when God told Him, that it is not for Him to build the house for the ark of God, but it will be his son, Solomon. Imagine that, at that point, I'm sure David had thought through how he will want to so very much be the one to build the temple of God, probably even wanting to be that master builder, planning and thinking, and even strategising. And then at the point of seeking God, God gently says "no" (2 Samuel 7:12-13 & 2 Chronicles 6:7-9). I'm sure for many of us, we tend to wrestle so much with God, when He says "no" to your dream at that point. But do we realise the heart of God when He says no.

If we learn from David, we realise that there is so much humility in Him towards God, His response is one that is of surrender unto God, saying to God "Who am I" to say that it is me who will build Your temple. Wow........read 2 Samuel 7:18-20, and again verses 22-29. It brought up the deep humility of David to not just obey, but even support God, even when He did not fully understand. I'm sure we feel that at times, what we want to do for God........it is so great to be able to "build that temple for God". It is for God, but why did God say "no". I'm sure David did not fully understand, but he choose to support and run with God.

In the times of challenges, changes, we may resist it so much, thinking that God, what I want to do is to glorify your name, and to do something great for you. But ask yourself, what is truly the heart of God for you in this whole situation. Don't just have a mindset of God, I want to do this for you, but rather, God what would you want me to do. God will commend you for what you want to do, but God desires obedience more than sacrifices; so it's not just about what you will do for Him, but would we seek Him for what He wants us to do? That's obedience.

Sometimes I don't understand as well, why I did the things I did, but only know that it was directed by God. Of course as time goes, it came to being to realise that God knows the best :) Alright, let's learn to take God's "No" with great humility, and not great disappointment.