Have you ever had God say "No" to one of your most
fervent prayers?
Ultimately, we must acknowledge that God has a purpose in allowing His children to suffer, even if we do not or cannot know what that purpose is. And sometimes it's not what we could legitimately call "suffering," but we do go through some rather difficult and uncertain times.
Elisabeth Elliot once wrote, "Let us never forget that some of God's greatest mercies are His refusals. He says no in order that He may, in some way we cannot imagine, say yes. All His ways are merciful. His meaning is always love."
One unknown poet expressed it this way (read this carefully):
Humbly I asked of God to give me joy,
To crown my life with blossoms of delight:
I begged for happiness without alloy,
Thinking that my pathway should be bright.
Prayerfully I sought out these blessings to attain
And now I thank Him that He gave me pain,
For with my pain and sorrow came to me
A dower of tenderness in act and thought,
And with the suffering came a sympathy
And insight that success had never brought.
Father, I had been foolish and unblest
If Thou hadst granted me my blind request.
Take a good look at those lines again. Then fall on your knees and thank God that sometimes He says "No."
--Rocky Henriques, www.uticabc.com