God doesn't always say, Yes
Scripture Reading - Acts 16:5-6 KJV
5 And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.
6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
The message of “God doesn’t always say, Yes” comes from the notion that God is always in favor of everything the Christians does. This presumption is not sound biblical teaching because there are several recorded instances of when God said what he wanted but man did what he wanted and the two wills did not agree. We (ihlcc) will name just three additional witnesses at this time to firmly establish this truth because many people don’t like to think about God saying “No!”. Now for starter we will give you the highlights of the story just to make our point but the scripture reference will be before or right after the statement for your in-depth reading, if you so desire. The key is knowing this truth first, so that you can better understand that God is a lot like people in the context of saying both “yes and no” depending upon the issue (topic, question, actions, etc…) under discussion. We see in Matthew 5:37 MKJV the instructions by Jesus to say either “yes or no” by the words, “But let your word be, Yes, yes; No, no. For whatever is more than these comes from evil”. Since the Lord Jesus told us to simply say “yes or no” we can understand that God says “Yes or No” also. Remember in Genesis 4:3-7 when God said yes to Abel’s offering but “no” to Cain’s offering. We also remember that David prayed for his son (born in adultery with Bathsheba) to be healed but the Lord didn’t hearken unto David’s prayer at that time because it was not God’s will at that time.-Refer to 2 Samuel 12:15-23 Generally speaking God won’t build upon a foundation of sin. In the New Testament we have an example of Jesus saying “no” to both James and John and their mother without apologizing for His answer. In the account given in Matthew 20:20-23 Jesus denied the request of their mother and in the account recorded in Mark 10:35-40 Jesus denies this same personal request directly from James and John. The point is you could be an apostle or a family member of a minister of God and the Lord will still say “No” to certain things if it is not according to His Will. This must be understood because there has been some erroneous (false) teaching in times past that stated, “God always says “Yes” to our personal request”. This is probably taken from the scripture found in 2 Corinthians 1:18-20 which states by the Apostle Paul that their preaching was not yes and no but rather yes and Amen because all the promises of God are yes and Amen in Christ Jesus. This is a biblical truth that is specifically speaking about the promises of God which are promised to every Christian. This verse is simply highlighting the very real fact that God is faithful to honor His word. These verses of scripture are not at all saying that God says yes to everything you want to do. Sometimes people have heard the quote, “you can have what you say”, so long that they truly believe they can do whatever they say, also. Therefore, they don’t usually talk to God about their desires they just petition for God’s help in fulfilling their own desires. We could show you many references where God’s Will was different than the desire of men and the Lord did not change His position but instead He tolerated the disobedience of the man (or woman) and/or The Lord punished the man (or woman) for his (or her) disobedience to God. We (ihlcc) see far too many Christians express their will out loud before other men in complete confidence that their will is just fine with God. However like the scripture of today’s lesson the Apostle Paul was trying to do something necessary and noble but it was not God’s Will at that time. Many believers want to do something good but just because that desire is in your heart it does not guarantee that God’s endorsement is on that particular desire. Yes, many people think that if I want to do something good or at least something that is neither good nor bad, like playing a sporting event, that surely God is in favor of it. This thinking is because the truth that God is our Heavenly Father and He loves us very much and looks forward to (delights in) our pleasure such that He wants to see us happy and joyful. Yes, this characteristic of God is true but that is not the full gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ but a basic truth based upon the principle of the nature of God which no man can deny. However, God is also very big on taking care of His Business first, remember we work first then we play later. So if you believe that God will always bless the works of your hands even when your hands aren’t blessing God (doing God’s Word) that is being presumptuous and that will lead to an error in judgment. We (ihlcc) are not saying that God doesn’t want you to be happy and joyful because He does, what we are boldly saying is that God’s more perfect will is that you would be happy with the things of God over the lust and desires of this world. The Word of God admonishes us to put God’s desires into our heart to experience complete fulfillment, comfort, joy and peace in Christ Jesus our precious Lord and Savior. Yes, God is about commitment and sacrifice while completing your calling, while many believers think that fasting, commitment and sacrifice are out dated concepts and ideas. We do believe God is still speaking openly to the hearts of all His Beloved Children to do what is right and pleasing in His Sight all we need to do is listen. Therefore, check in with the Lord Jesus Christ first about what you are doing and what you are planning on doing in the future because only then will He have an opportunity to counsel you on what His Will is for your life and what is not His Will for your life. So believe us, dear brother and/or sister in Christ, God does say “yes” to our will a lot of times but He also doesn’t say “yes” to everything we might want to do. The key is being more spiritually minded (Christ Centered) because when you are in tune with God in spirit and soul the easier it will be to clearly know when God is saying “no” to something you want (desire) to do. It is imperative that we understand that Jesus Christ is both our friend and family member but He Is also our Lord and that our faith friend is worthy of our upmost respect and honor even when He doesn’t say “Yes” to our every desire. We know that all those who truly love God are serious about doing God’s Will first over our will second, so if the Good Shepherd doesn’t say “yes” to something we were planning on doing then the answer of “no” from God is for our own personal blessing and benefit because God knows what we need to do on this earth and what He requires of every man upon the face of the earth. Amen!