I think a good starting point for this topic is to understand that even before asking God for anything we must appreciate and understand His loving and giving nature. We must firmly believe that all His thoughts and plans (Jeremiah 29:11) towards us are for His Glory and our Good. Please pay particular attention to these two aspects (His Glory and Our Good) and the order of priority.

I must admit I struggled with fully understanding that God truly loved me during a fair share of my Christian life. There were things I went through in my Christian walk where God was saying no or wait and I just could not understand why. These times made me anxious, frustrated and even run ahead of God and did my own thing to my detriment. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Remember there are always consequences for rejecting God’s no and trying to change it into a yes by our own hands.  

Do you want to know what saved me from this inaccurate thinking that God does not love me? I watched the movie, the “Passion of Christ” with the crucifixion scene, where Jesus was brutally killed. After watching this scene, I said to myself, God really loves me. Because only love can cause a Father to allow His only son to go through this level of anguish on my behalf. After this, I rooted in my heart that the God of all creation loves me and He only has my best interest at heart. Therefore, when I come before Him and the answer is no or wait, I leave contented knowing that these answers are for God’s Glory and my Good.

Am I perfect in the application of what I listed above? No. But I am much better than before, since I gained a better understanding of His unconditional love. When we understand that love is the driving force behind someone’s motives, it is easier to accept them giving us responses of no or wait.    

Allow me to share some examples where God would have given me a no or wait response and let us explore how it turned out. Let us see if the No or Wait answer’s were rooted in love or not and if it ended with God getting the glory.    

Example 1:

I was chairing a Sunday Morning service one day and standing on the altar after the service concluded.  During this time, the musicians were playing their instruments as the congregants were departing. Then I just could not help but fix my eyes on my Bishop as he was playing the guitar. It was like he was playing directly into my soul. At that moment, I felt God telling me that I have to learn to play the guitar. Then in that moment I decided to put the commencement of studying for my Master’s Degree on hold and take up studying the guitar for a year. In essence, God told me to wait and delay my academic studies.

As God would have it, one year after making this guitar playing decision, the conglomerate that I was working for selected 15 high performing employees from across the business group to register for an Executive Masters of Business Administration (EMBA).  This resulted in me getting a better masters (Executive MBA) than the one I was originally selecting and the company paid all the cost. This meant that I was able to save around 65,000 dollars of my money –  Isn’t it good to wait on God!

Example 2:

I once applied for a warehouse manager position at a company because I felt it was time to change jobs. At this time, I was already a qualified warehouse manager at another company which was bigger and more established so I thought for sure at the very least, I would have been called for the interview. As God would have it, I did not even get a phone call to come for an interview.

Because I wanted to change jobs so badly, I was a bit angry with the Heavenly Father (Dane with shame face on) for not getting the job. Then about 3-4 months after I saw on the newspapers that the warehouse for that company caught on fire and burned down. Do I need to say anything further about what my employment status would have been if I got that job and the warehouse went up in smoke? – It’s good to be happy when God’s says No.

Example 3:

At another time, I was hired as a Director Level position at a major company  and it was the worst experience I had to date in my professional career. This was a most horrid environment so I had my prayer warriors out praying for a yes to have the situation work out. As God would have it, the company and I ended up parting ways and I was out of a job for a while. It was during this time that God gave me the time and desire to write my first book (What is the Woman Saying – Lessons from Biblical Women).

From writing this book I not only grew spiritually but I started blogging and I was able to encourage myself and others through the words God pens on my heart. The same book that God pulled me off a job from to write, was the same book He used to give me back a job.

In the early stages of marketing the book, I got a call from someone who wanted a copy, therefore I went and delivered it. During that drop off the individual asked me if I wanted to return to the corporate world as they might know of a job which would be posted in the coming month. When the job was posted a few weeks after, I applied for it and as God would have it, I was successful.

For this new job, my salary was increased by 57% and the new location saves me 90 minutes in traffic daily compared to my old job. Coupled with this, it is a much better working environment. Up to this day, I always say God took me out of a job to write the book. It’s good to be happy when God says No.

Conclusion:

Dear friends, we live in a world that craves instant gratification and attainment. However, as children of God we must understand that things in our lives will not always be satisfied instantly.  God’s children must not be part of the, “I want it now society”. We must let patience have its perfect work (James 1:4:8). Because if we run ahead of God to attain a yes when God’s desire is for a No or Wait, then we will be affecting the perfection that God wants to birth in our lives.

Whenever God tells us wait or no, He is doing it from a place of Love. Because all He wants is for His Glory to be revealed and establish Goodness in our lives, and who among us does not want that!

I trust that this blog topic blesses someone and I am interested in hearing some of your own stories of where God would have given you an answer of no or wait.

Note: Part 2 of this topic can you found at the following link – When God says Wait or No – Part 2

PS: Dane Miller was last seen thanking Deaconess Claudine for encouraging him to write a blog on this topic due to the fact that she read the blog post called –  You Can Call Upon the Lord