God's "No's" are Always Good "No's"

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11

I have told this story in a couple of my sermons.  I was in my first call in Nebraska.  It was the Sunday in January when I was going to announce to the congregations that I was taking a call to go and serve in Texarkana, TX.  It was my first time to ever make such an announcement.  I was nervous.    One member walking into church before the service sized me up and said to me, “Pastor Braun I hope you have good news for us this morning.”  As this fellow turned away and walked into church I let me head fall against my chest.  I sighed deeply. I hate disappointing people and that was exactly what I was about to do.   One of the church elders standing behind me saw my reaction.  “Pastor,” He said, “You just tell them that God’s news is always good news.” 

Yesterday, I was reminded of that story.  A member of Trinity stopped by my office.  For the past three years she and her husband and their two children have been praying and looking for a new place to live.  The place they lived, for all sorts of reasons was not a good one for their family – too small, too far from the kids school and so on. For three years they have been frustrated.  Every time they thought that they had found a place, they would get their hopes up only to see everything fall apart.  It was very frustrating and discouraging.. Why couldn’t they catch a break?  Why did God keep telling them “no?”  Then a few weeks ago, they found an apartment.  This apartment had everything they were hoping for, praying for and looking for. The lease went through.  Now they have been able to rent their old apartment to someone else.  She stood in my office and said to me, “Now we know why God kept telling us ‘no.’ He had someplace better in mind for us.”

As I sat there listening to her, I thought of a variation of what that elder said to me all those years ago – “God’s no’s are always good no’s.”  We all have or are perhaps going through a time it seems like God’s answers to our prayers are one “no” after another.  They are moments when it seems that things we hope for never seem to work out.  They are times of discouragement.  Sometimes we get frustrated and angry.  Where is God?  Isn’t God listening to our prayers? 

At those moments I love the Bible verse I choose for today’s blog – Jeremiah 29:11.  This verse was written by the prophet at just such a time in the life of God’s people. The Babylonians had destroyed their nation, their capital, their temple.  The people of Judah were to be taken into exile in a foreign land. Where was God?  Why was this happening?  Why was He saying “no” to them?  At just that moment the Lord speaks through His prophet.  “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  What a great verse, a reminder that even when things all seem to be falling apart we can still count on God’s love for us.  Even when we can’t seem to catch a break we can be confident that our loving God is still in control. Even when we can’t see a way that things will work out, we can trust Him with the outcome.  Even when God says “no” we can trust that He knows better than us… that He has plans to give us a hope and a future.  After all, as St. Paul wrote, “If God did not spare His own Son but gave Him for us all how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?”  Be patient in those difficult moments.  Trust your loving God.  Live in the confident faith that “God’s ‘no’s’ are always good ‘no’s.”