How Do You React To “No”?

Have you ever been in the grocery store when a mother has told her toddler “No, you cannot do that!” All I can say is that the picture is not normally very pretty after that, right? For the next several minutes, if she is lucky, the toddler pitches a fit and throws a tantrum in an effort to convince her otherwise. Unfortunately, we often react the same way!

God’s Plans Vs. Ours

In my last two posts, I have been describing how sometimes God’s plans for us do not turn out like we had imagined. Sometimes we picture ourselves doing something amazing for God, only to see those plans come to nothing. It is easy for us to allow this to create problem-thinking in our minds and react in a way that can take us out of the game for a period.

By looking at an example from Scripture (2 Samuel 7:1-29), we have been trying to dig in and learn a few lessons. In this example, King David’s plans to build a great temple for the Lord are rejected in favor of his son. Instead of building the temple, David is only involved in gathering the materials needed.

God Chooses Our Use!

We discussed in the first post in this series that this is part of submitting to the sovereignty of God. He has wisdom that we will never understand. He has plans for us that may include sowing seeds when we wanted to be the one reaping the harvest. Maybe He wants us to water the seeds when we would rather sow them.

Whatever the case, we must recognize His authority and the fact that He knows best. David did this. He accepted that God was to use his son Solomon to build the temple. He submitted to God’s plan and went on to provide the materials for the temple.

Motives To Be Pure!

In the next post, we discussed how we often want to do for God, but we have impure motives. We say we want to serve Him, but sometimes we really want the respect and renown that comes with serving Him.

David was different. A man after God’s own heart, he had no signs of impure motives for building the temple. Instead, he thanked God for what He had done and promised to do. We need to follow David’s example in this.

David’s Reaction To Rejection

Today, I want to look at what David went on to do after the rejection. Unlike the toddler in the grocery store, David handled the rejection from God as very few can. Rather than complain and question God, David took it in stride. He did not react with a tantrum, only submission.

David did not step off to the side and sulk. He did not question his purpose or get distracted from his mission. In fact, in the following passage, he went on to gather the materials needed for the temple:

With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities.

Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple…
1 Chronicles 29:2-3

God Uses David After “No”

Not only that, but you need to read 2 Samuel 8 as well. It is a laundry list of David’s victories and conquests after the rejection. God was not through with David when he rejected his plan for the temple. He just had other ways he wanted to use David.

Again, we need to follow David’s example in how he reacted to the rejection. If we can take “No” in stride and keep serving as David did, I believe God can use us in ways we cannot even imagine right now. We simply have to trust Him!

How have you reacted to God’s “No”?

Looking back, how would you change your reaction?

What have been the results?

Photo by Olesia Bilkei/Shutterstock