Digging Deeper – Taking No for an Answer
“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”
James 4:1-4 (NLT)
“And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.”
1 John 5:14-15 (NLT)
TAKING NO FOR AN ANSWER
The first recorded use of the phrase “Don’t take no for an answer” was in the book My Early Life by Winston Churchill, published in 1930. But the sentiment behind the phrase is as old as humanity. The Bible barely gets three chapters in before we find Adam and Eve deciding that they won’t take no for an answer. And this is where the problem lies. Sometimes “no” is the best answer.
There is a strange book by Flann O’Brien called The Third Policeman. Brian O’Nolan actually wrote the book, but that isn’t important here. The book is odd, but it does have a few interesting conversations. One of them is with a character who has decided that “No is a better word than yes.” The man had looked at his life, weighed his sins, and realized that his “yesses” had led to them. He decided that if he wanted to avoid sin, he must always answer “no.” Since he couldn’t know the outcome of saying yes, he avoided the consequences by always saying no.
I would agree with him that many of my past sins were the result of a “yes” that should have been a “no.” However, some of the greatest joys in my life have come from “yesses.” I said “yes” on my wedding day, and that continues to pay off in my favor. I said “yes” to the offer of salvation and will have eternity to appreciate the outcome of that “yes.” The problem is not the answer I give but my finite wisdom that informs it.
God, however, sees all the proper outcomes, so we can trust that he not only knows what the result of his “yes” or “no” will be, but also sees the heart that is asking and our motives. With those two things in mind, we can trust our loving Father to give us the right answer, as we see him do over and over again in Scripture. Then we can trust and take “no” for an answer.
Take a few moments today, pray, and ask God to give you the peace to take no for an answer from him. Ask him to show you clearly the places where your heart needs to change. Ask him to renew your trust that he is doing the right thing, and ask him to guide you to the right thing too.
Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.