If you’re a Christian, then by now you know that God does not give you everything you want. You can want something so badly. You can cry about it, you can fuss about it, you can fast about it, you can pray about it – but if Dad says no, it’s a no. He’ll give us a full-on Randy Jackson, “It’s a no for me dawg”, and we are still expected to respect Him, serve Him, trust Him, and ultimately remain in a relationship with Him.
For many of us, it’s hard to stay faithful to God after He tells us no. We’ve seen God do great things in our lives and in the lives of our friends, so we know He is capable of giving us what we ask for. However, when God says no, many of us sometimes feel like He is being unfair or acting unjustly towards us. Or maybe you think He’s mad at you.
However, the truth is God NOT giving you everything you ask for is not indicative of any disdain towards you.
God loves you and has already given you (freely) the best gift anyone could ever give someone: eternal life with no suffering. Remember, Romans 8:32 says,
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
When reading this, we see that God has given us the gift of His Son, and the knowledge of this fact should make us confident that the Father is not one to withhold great things from His children. With this knowledge, we should also consider is that maybe when God says no, He actually does still have our best interests in mind.
The real point I want to hit home is this: I don’t think our relationship with God should be founded on our transactions with Him anyhow. If some of us were honest with ourselves, we’d discover that we weren’t Christians because we love God but because we figured God could bless us with worldly riches if we serve Him. If this were the case, then we wouldn’t actually be in a relationship with God, we would be in business with Him, because no real relationship is founded SOLELY on transactions.
Because God wants the best for you, He won’t give you everything you ask for. Because God wants a relationship with you, He refuses to be your genie.
Sometimes what we don’t get from Him can be more serious, like a relative not getting healing but instead passing away. But even in those instances, I am a firm believer that all things work together for our good – even death – because that transports us into God’s heavenly presence for eternity.
God is all-knowing and all-loving. When we start with this fact, we can reason with why He might give us some things today and withhold other things from us another day. Be encouraged that everything will work out for your good (Romans 8:28). Remember that God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him (1 John 1:5). Don’t let your have nots make you forget who God is and what He’s about. He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), and He will order your steps and keep you.
