God Said No!

He stood up during the assembly. He was an older gentleman, quiet spoken. The words came out of his mouth, "I want to thank you for your many prayers offered on behalf of my son. He is 21 years young and he died yesterday of the hepatitis in Abuja. God answered our prayers and He said 'No!'" With tears falling slowly down his cheeks but with a confidence I had never seen, he continued, "Our God is a wonderful God. In my sons death, may God be glorified. To God be the glory in his death and in our lives!" As he sat down, the congregation in one accord said, "Amen!"

This happened at one of the assemblies where I was given an opportunity to preach while I was in Nigeria. I sat there, listening, with tears in my heart thinking to myself, "How many of my brothers and sisters in the states could do what he did? In fact, how many would give God glory and thank Him for saying 'No' in the death of one of their children?" My mind went further and I thought, "How many would even show up for the assembly when their son just died?" Many of my brethren would be in shock, wondering why God did not answer their prayer. We have great difficulty in God telling us 'No' but when something happens the way we ask God for, we rejoice and thank Him for answering our prayer. It reveals how little we really trust our Lord and understand our God. We rejoice when things are answered according to our requests and we question if God even hears us when He is really saying 'No'! Just look at Jesus who asked 3 times for the difficulty He was facing to be removed. God said 'No' three times. Paul asked God 3 times to remove the thorn in his flesh. Three times God said 'No'! David prayed fervently that his new born child would not die and God said 'No'! In each case, God was glorified in the life of the individuals. No moping about. No depression. No staying home because they just can't function today. Just giving thanks, rejoicing and finding a great strength beyond themselves to move forward.

I learned a lot in Nigeria that day. I am ever so thankful for what God revealed to me through these dedicated brothers and sisters. I found myself encouraged by their faith shown and it made me give thanks to God because I am His child. This Nigerian Christian man was at the lectureship each and every night (one full week) while I preached, glorifying God. It makes me ask, what would you do? That means some serious soul seaching and honesty in heart.