When God Tells You 'No,' Listen
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When God Tells You 'No,' Listen

There is something so beautiful down the road that needs your attention.

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When God Tells You 'No,' Listen
Stefanie Vinsel

When I’m sad I blame God. When I’m unhappy I look to God for disappointing me. When I’m hurt I question God’s authority and ability to put somebody in my life who won’t hurt me. When I’m lonely I blame God for not giving me the right people I want in my life right now, this second. But here’s the thing about God, sometimes He says no so that later He can say yes.

First Jesus warns me against things that are harmful and worldly. He warns me of creating idols of things that aren’t Him. He warns me against the ways of the world. He tells me of how the world sees me opposed to how He sees me. How Jesus sees me is so different. He sees me for my heart opposed to what I have to offer.

God tells me that depending on what’s beautiful in the world’s eyes is so irrelevant to the big scheme of God's plan for my life. I don't listen. I look at Him straight in the face and turn away. I run to the things He had warned me against. I run to the things that He had hoped I would spit at. He takes me by the shoulders and shakes me over and over again screaming in anger, “Stop! Stop! These are not my plans for you! This is not what I have in store for you!” So He takes what He warned me against, away. This time though, isn't like the others. It hurts more beacuse I had known what the God of the universe had told me yet I chose to turn from it.

If you take advantage of God’s compassion, you do not understand the full power of God.

Your sins have been paid for not just forgiven. The Bible warns us against taking advantage of God’s forgiveness. Do not make the mistake of looking to the world for fulfillment and satisfaction. If God is wrong about what is best for you, He wouldn’t be God. The God I know is a God whose plan is always right. The God I know is a God that never changes. The God I know is the God with the same power that rose from the dead. The God I know is a God that wants the best for me but will teach me lessons after lessons until I learn it. That’s the point.

If God tells you “no”, you should listen. If God tells you no it’s because there is something down the road so beautiful that needs your attention.

Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
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