A few years back I was in direct sales and had the opportunity to make cold calls, which means calling people you barely know and asking them to have a party in their house to help pay your bills. This, of course, was not my favorite part of my job and I realized quickly that I needed a new perspective on what I was doing.
One of the things that the leadership of the direct sales company I worked for told me (being experts in the word no) is that when you see and hear the word no, it is really a step closer to a yes. They even passed out a sheet that had 100 no’s on it. Every time you got a no when making a cold call you were supposed to cross off a no . . . yes you are now one step closer to a yes. It was kind of funny to make those calls after that because anytime I got a “yes, I will have a party,” I got kind of irritated because I could not mark off one of my no’s. Reverse psychology, I know, but it worked for me.
Most of the time, trying to convince someone to say yes to a party didn’t yield a good return. It worked better when the people wanted to have a party and were excited about it. As a result, they would have a fantastic party that was successful, which would lead to even better ones.
In 2 Samuel 7, David gets a no from God. David wanted to build a house for God to dwell in instead of having God reside in the ark. He wanted God to have a fancy house like his! But, God had other plans for David and the way he wanted David to spend his time. He wanted David’s son, Solomon, to build the temple and wanted David to continue being the warrior that he was.
This is a huge challenge to me, as it probably was to David–to accept God’s no and to embrace the yes that He has instead.
Just because God said no did not mean that He was mad at David or that He did not value what David wanted to do for Him. In fact, God said yes to David in that he wanted to establish David’s house for years to come. He wanted to give David a son who could carry on his reign. Now wouldn’t it be foolish for David to keep on begging God to allow him build a temple when God simply had another great plan for him? God simply had a bigger plan for David’s life, as He does for mine.
I want to see my no’s as God’s protection and blessing on my family.
God is good, kind and loving.
He doesn’t say no just to be a fun-killer. Sometimes His no means there is a better yes around the corner. He might be saying no because He loves me and desires to see His name revered in a different way…
2 Samuel 7: 27-29 O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you.’ So your servant has found courage to offer you this prayer. O Sovereign LORD, you are God! Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, O Sovereign LORD, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.
I love this post. It reminds me of when I learned that God always answers our prayers. He always says YES to us. Sometimes it’s not the way we want or expect. I am learning to embrace God’s no’s, knowing that the “Yes” is always the better way!