The God Who Says, "No"
. How does one worship a God who tells us, “No”? I don’t mean, “No, you can’t be taller.” Or, “No, you can’t win the Lottery.” I mean the hard denials, the ones that don’t make any sense: “No, your mother will not live.” “No, your husband will not come back.” “No, I won’t allow you to keep this baby.” “No, I will not heal your wife, whom you love.” . Growing up, there was a song entitled, “Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers .” Even then, it bothered me. It seems to me there was no such thing as an unanswered prayer. God says, “Yes.” God says, “No.” Or, God says, “Wait.” We aren’t comfortable with the idea of God saying, “No,” and we hate to wait, especially in my culture. So, we’ve somehow told ourselves that God isn’t answering at all. Since God is Love (and generous), the problem must be with us. We aren’t asking correctly. We have bad motives. We’re doing it wrong. . However, real life tells us a different story. In real life, godly people watch helplessly as loved on