How strong is your faith? Can it stand the shock of a “no” answer from God?
I have long been fascinated by the story of the three Hebrew children in the Old Testament. The king of Babylon commanded all people to bow down and worship his golden image. These devout Jewish young men refused. When they were told that they would be thrown in a fiery furnace if they did not obey the order, they replied, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up” (Daniel 3:17-18).
That phrase “but if not” fascinates me. They knew what was right and they believed that God could deliver then from the fiery furnace. But they said, “Even if God doesn’t deliver us, we will be true to him.” Their faith was so strong that it could stand the shock of a “no” answer.
When we pray to God, he gives us one of three answers. Sometimes God says yes. He grants our request as we have made it.
Sometimes God says no. “No” is just as much an answer as “yes.” If my child asks to use the car and I say, “No, you may not,” that is just as much an answer as if I had said yes. Remember that his answers do not have to conform to our wishes to be answered. Most of us who have lived awhile have lived long enough to be grateful that God doesn’t always say yes. I have one preacher friend who said that if God had granted all of his requests he would have had more wives than Brigham Young. “No” is also an answer.
Sometimes God says “wait.” God has a timing for everything. Sometimes parents delay the requests of their children until they are old enough to handle them. Just so, God in his perfect timing answers our prayers only when the time is best.
Every Christian needs to learn to live on the “but if not” level of life. We need to keep believing God even if he doesn’t do what we think he ought to do and when he doesn’t do it when we think he ought to do it.