“When God says No”

“When God says No” 

*Many of theses thoughts are from an article by  Lance Witt.

[Introduction]

Sometimes we clearly see God answer a prayer with a timely “yes.” Sometimes we have seen God, answer yes, but in a different way or time than we had hoped for or expected. Occasionally, time gives us a greater perspective on life and we can recognize and value how God worked.

I have seen God heal relationships and marriages in response to prayer and I have also seen God NOT heal relationship and marriages in response to prayer.

Sometimes, we can appreciate a “NO” answer to our prayers.

My father-in-law when he was a young man briefly dated a woman that either he or she ,or God just sovereignly ended the relationship. Years after he had married his current wife, he found out that this woman he had briefly dated had been married several times. He was relieved that he had avoided some major potential problems in his life.

The apostle Paul in a well known, but undefined struggle said, 

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (ESV)
⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.

⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Why doesn’t God answer our prayers in some very specific circumstances that each of us have in our minds?  God is all loving, the Bible say that. Since He is,  why doesn’t he answer our prayers?

Some of us here have specifically prayer for certain things that we clearly know are within the will of God. It is always God’s will to pray for someone to be saved. To pray for healed relationships with a prodigal child, restored relationship with family or spouse.

It is appropriate according to James to pray for physical healing.

When you pray for those things but do not seen life change, you may be asking yourself,

Is the Lord mad at me?

Is there something wrong with me?

Do I not have enough faith?

Are my prayers making any positive difference?

Are my prayers just  bouncing off the ceiling?

                                                                                               

You and I have seen God positively answer other people’s prayers that we are also praying.  Sometimes God even seems to be working positively in the lives of those who don’t know Him. Those emotions become very raw over time and we cry out from the heart, “It’s not fair.” You may try to keep as the English refer to a “stiff upper lip.” Fortitude in the face of adversity -- when your heart is flooded with painful emotions and unanswered questions.

The book of Job helps us to probe this issue. While it is likely the oldest book in the Bible, every thing it says is relevant to the human condition now as was it 4000 years ago. The Bible called Job a righteous man. He also experienced great success and material prosperity. He was greatly respected and admired by many people. But there was something going on in the spiritual realm that he was not aware of.

 God allowed Satan to affect Job in a horrific way.

One day Job lost 7,000 sheep, 3000 camels, 5000 oxen, 500 donkeys, “all his servants were killed, and then the crowning blow was that all 10 of his kids were killed in a freak accident.”

“Shortly, Job lost his health and his entire body from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head was covered in boils. Over night, one of the most wealthy, well-respected, and righteous men on earth was reduced to nothing.”

Job’s wife advice was to curse God and die. Throughout most of the chapters of Job God is silent.

Job and his friends then wrestle with trying to understand his circumstances.  He friends became unhelpful once they opened their mouths.

In this struggle to understand and respond to the suffering some helpful principles come out.

When God says No to your prayers,

I.  Affirm what you know to be true about God

Job 19:25  For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

II. Look to Jesus in your struggles.

 Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

III. Don’t mistake the silence of God for the absence of God.

Job 34:29  When he is quiet, who can condemn? When he hides his face, who can behold him, whether it be a nation or a man?—

IV. Remember that God is not obligated to explain himself

Job 38:1-4
¹ Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
² “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
³ Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.
⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

When God says No to your prayers,

V. Take comfort in knowing that God is at Work

Job 33:12-14

 ¹² “Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you, for God is greater than man.

 ¹³ Why do you contend against him, saying, ‘He will answer none of man’s words’? ¹

⁴ For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it.

  

VI. Do not let your pain distort your view of God.

Job 13:15   Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.

VII. Always keep God’s eternal purpose in your mind

1 Corinthians 15:19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

VIII. Trust in God's control and purposes for your life

Job 23:10  But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.

Conclusion

Joni Eareckson Tada who is now 64 has spent the last 47 years paralyzed.

"A sacrifice of praise will always cost you something. It will be a difficult thing to do. It requires trading in our pride, our anger, and most valued of all, our human logic. We will be compelled to voice our words of praise firmly and precisely, even as our logic screams that God has no idea what he's doing. Most of the verses written about praise in God's Word were penned by men and women who faced crushing heartaches, injustice, treachery, slander, and scores of other intolerable situations".

She has some interesting closing words here.

"It's ironic. In heaven, where I will be able once again to wipe my own tears, I won't have to."

Star Trek and the Gospel

In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn Spock dies at the end of the movie saving the Enterprise. In his dying breath he tells the deeply troubled Admiral  Kirk, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.” This closing is the lead into Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. The story focuses on how after learning that Spock has an eternal soul, Kirk, McCoy and the other Enterprise crew members risk their careers and  lives so that Spock’s living essence, his soul,  can find eternal peace. At the end of movie Spock asks Kirk why they  did this.  He responded: “The needs of the one outweighed the needs of the many.”

This has a parallel with the Gospel which expresses God’s greatest concern in the universe, which is where souls are in  relationship to Him. By command and extension it expresses that our greatest concern should be is for where people will spend eternity.

An outline of a verse  which expresses this:

John 3:16

   God                           the greatest Giver

   so loved                    the greatest motive

   the world                  the greatest need

   that He gave             the greatest act

   His only Son             the greatest gift

   that whosoever         the greatest invitation

   believes in Him         the greatest opportunity

   should not perish       the greatest deliverance

   but have eternal life   the greatest joy

The Gospel is  “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” I Cor. 15:3-4. Eternal life, the present reality and ultimate joy of God’s presence, is received through trusting Jesus Christ alone. That is Good News! He wants us to respond to it and to share it with others

Meaning of Christmas

The following is a terrific story on the meaning of Christmas

Did you ever read Bret Harte's story The Luck of Roaring Camp? Roaring Camp was supposed to be, according tot he story, the meanest, toughest mining town in all of the West. More murders, more thefts--it was a terrible place inhabited entirely by men, and one woman who tried to serve them all. Her name was Cherokee Sal. She died while giving birth to a baby.
   Well, the men took the baby, and they put her in a box with some old rags under her. When they looked at her, they decided that didn't look right, so they sent one of the men eighty miles to buy a rosewood cradle. He brought it back, and they put the rags and the baby in the rosewood cradle. And the rags didn't look right there. So they sent another of their number to Sacramento, and he came back with some beautiful silk and lace blankets. And they put the baby, wrapped around with those blankets, in the rosewood cradle.
   It looked fine until someone happened to notice that the floor was so filthy. So these hardened, tough men got down on their hands and knees, and with their hardened and horny hands they scrubbed that floor until it was very clean. Of course, what that did was to make the walls and the ceiling and the dirty windows without curtains look absolutely terrible. So they washed down the walls and the ceiling, and they put curtains at the windows. And now things were beginning to look as they thought they should look. But of course, they had to give up a lot of their fighting, because the baby slept a lot, and babies can't sleep during a brawl.
   So the whole temperature of Roaring Camp seemed to go down. They used to take her out and set her by the entrance to the mine in her rosewood cradle so they could see her when they came up. Then somebody noticed what a dirty place that was, so they planted flowers, and they made a very nice garden there. It looked quite beautiful. And they would bring her, oh, shiny little stones and things that they would find in the mine. But when they would put their hands down next to hers, their hands looked so dirty. Pretty soon the general store was all sold out of soap and shaving gear and perfume and those kinds ... the baby changed everything.
   That's the way it is for those of good will. That's the way it is for those who please God. The baby enters into their lives, and he slips into every crevice of their experience, until they say "Hark! Listen, the herald angels sing! God is for us. And Christmas is forever."

   -- Bruce W. Thielemann, "Hark! The Herald Angels," Preaching Today, Tape No. 63.

Worship - Who? -What? -When? -How? -Why? - Where?

Who do we worship?

               We are to worship the Lord.

What is worship?

                Worship is our positive response to the presence and work of God.

When do we worship?

                Everyday can contain times of worship.

How do we worship?

                Externals and type are not the issue. We are worship God from a sincere heart.

Why do we worship?

                We, as His children through faith in Christ, were made to worship God.

Where do we worship?

                Anywhere, but uniquely gathered with other believers in corporate worship.

“What is truth?”

“What is truth?”  That questioned has been asked by asked by many people in various circumstances. Many people have asked it. Philosophers have asked it. Theologians have asked it. Evaluating another person's sincerity can be difficult. But when someone does not want or accept the answer, then their sincerity can be called into question.

While reading this passage consider the sincerity of Pilate’s question.

John 18:37-38 ³⁷ Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
³⁸ Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.

Pilate seemed to be looking for  "wiggle room" concerning his response to Jesus and the issue of truth.  He knew Jesus was innocent and was trying to let him go. But under fear of loosing his position and power, he eventually gave in and turned Jesus over to be crucified.


Jesus claimed to be the truth and to bear witness to the truth. In the above passage he said, "Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”  In facing this statement, Pilate also wilted.  How we respond to Jesus, reveals our commitment and understanding of the truth.

 

What is friendship?

Friendship is not using someone to get what you want. If you only hear from somebody when they want something, they are an acquaintance, not a friend.  Genuine friendship is not mutual encouragement to do the wrong thing. It is not promoting co-dependence or any other unhealthy behavior. The Bible speaks about friendship in the book of Proverbs.

 Proverbs 27:6, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” A friend will tell you the truth and confront you even if it hurts, because he or she wants what is ultimately best for you. I have a few friends who will tell me when they think I am wrong and they are very valuable to me. When you don’t share your concerns about someone’s direction because of fear of offending them you aren’t being a friend. A few years ago someone told me that her friend was making a terrible mistake by marrying this certain man. I asked her if she had expressed her concern to her friend. She said she hadn’t because she did not want to hurt their friendship or her feelings. Unfortunately, her friend went through a messy divorce after a short disastrous marriage.

                                               

Proverbs 17:9, “He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.”  A friend loves and accepts you and does not gossip about your private matters.  The thoughts and feedback from people who love you are very helpful. The ability to feel completely secure in a relationship is a marvelous gift to give and to receive.

Proverbs 18:24,   “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” The first part of this verse describes the danger of too many indiscriminate relationships. The second part describes the value of a true friend.  When my father passed away I made several trips in the following months to Portland to settle his affairs. The presence of an old friend at key moments made a difficult job a little easier.                             

A number of years ago I attended my niece’s high school graduation party. She had a book for people to write notes to her as she faces adult life and starting college.

In her book I wrote,  “A  true friend is someone who wants what is best for you. Seek to have those kinds of friends and seek to be that kind of friend to other people.”    

It’s Not Easy...

 In a Muppet movie, Kermit the Frog is singing while sitting on a Lilly pad. The title of the song was “Its Not Easy Being Green.” In the song he describes how life can be tough for a small green frog. That song  applies to most of us at various times in our lives.    We only  need to change the last word of the title to, “It’s Not Easy Being Me.”

Most of us have experienced the stress of not being accepted by others.  We have experienced the pain of rejection and of being unfairly judged. The teenage years for many are characterized by wide swings of emotions. We find it much easier to remember the stress we experienced rather than the stress we caused others. Many of our bad experiences can toss us about in life and batter our self-image. Webster’s NewWorld Dictionary defines self-image as “an individual’s conception of himself and his own identity, abilities, worth, etc.”  In trying to deal with a bad self-image, some people promote the concept of positive self-esteem.  They believe that if I tell myself that I am wonderful, then I will feel better about myself and the world.  However, this is not tied to truth. If someone honestly looks in a mirror, they cannot say “I am wonderful.”  Those words go against an awareness  in our own conscience that we are not wonderful. Those words are also contracted by the sin in our lives.

Some people try to try to feel better about themselves by putting others down. This is seen in kids calling each other bad names or calling attention to some physical deficiencies. In our American culture this can be seen in racist attitudes which degrade people because of the color of their skin. Where then should we get our self-image, our self-esteem? Where should we get our value?

Everyone has value, self-worth, because God loves us and because we are made in the image of  God.

God’s love is expressed in John 3:16 (KJV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  Our value  comes from God’s  infinite love which He showed by sending His Son to die on the cross for our sins. We do not deserve God’s  love. “God does not love that which is already in itself worthy of love, but on the contrary, that which in itself has no worth acquires worth just by becoming the object of God's love. [Nygren, "Agape and Eros," 78]” While no one can merit God’s love, it is experienced by who “believeth in him.”

Our value also comes from being made in God’s image. Genesis 1:27 (KJV) “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

God is different from man in that since He is spirit (John 4:24), He has no physical image. God is everywhere present; we are in only one place at one time (Eph 4:6). Three common points are that as He has intellect, will, and emotions, He has given them to us (Gen 1:26-28; 2:7,16-18) The image of God consists of these common attributes.

Some implications of  realizing our value is ultimately from God include: 1.All people are important to God. (No individual or group is more important than any other). 2. We should respect all people because they all have worth.  People have incredible  worth not because of what they  do, but because of Whom they belong to.