By
Rev. Juliet Schimpf
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Broadcast
Notes
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LINK to CFRA broadcast of
Sunday, January 8th, 2015)
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HEARING THE VOICE OF GOD:
'When God says "No"'
If I’m doing my job well, I’m
preparing you for the seasons in your life when God says no. We need to learn what to do with that.
For some, when God says no, they
up and leave the church or they leave the faith. Their dreams have been shattered. They may spiral into a very dark place for
years. We’re not called to do any of
this.
We are to be overcomers in Christ
and trust God when He says yes as well as when He says no. We are to trust God in the good times and in
the bad.
No was a very popular word this
week. In Scotland, 55% of the population
said no!
Have you noticed that we humans
have no problem saying no. Think of all
the times you’ve said no this past week.
Maybe to your spouse? “Honey, will you take out the garbage?” Your answer was, “No.” A charity calls you for a $50 donation and
you said “No.” We have no qualms about
saying no; we say it all the time.
For some reason, when God dares
to say no, we get our backs up against the wall. How dare He say no!
Let me give you an example of when He said no
to me. I was all set to return to Barry,
Ontario on Labour Day Monday. I had my
classroom set up, I was teaching high school.
I get a call from the Chair of the Board on Monday. He said, “Juliet, I’m sorry, but today our
doors have closed. We jacked tuition up
too high, student enrollment was too low.”
My world came shattering down.
God said, “No, you’re not teaching this year.”
In that moment, my dad wisely said that there
is a silver lining in every cloud. This
could be the opportunity to realize your long held dream to attend seminary. God’s no propelled me to race down to
McMaster Seminary a week into the semester and ask if it’s too late to
enroll. They said they never had anyone
come in this late. There had already
been two Greek classes. God had said no
to teaching, but He said yes to seminary.
God’s plans are sometimes not ours.
I wonder when God has said no to
you. I hope He has said no to you
because it means that you are listening to Him.
If you can’t think of a time when God ha said no, I’m a little concerned
because He should be saying no just like He says yes.
The question is “How do we know
that God says no?” Sometimes the answer
is very clear in His Word. Think of the
Ten Commandments. “Thou shalt not…..” Those are all nos. Any time that we are breaking the Word of the
Lord, He’s going to say no to us.
In today’s text, God says no to a
godly desire. Some of you have had
those. You were hoping to marry a
certain person. You were hoping to have
a certain experience or job and the doors close. God can say no to good desires. We’re going to see from the life of Daniel
how to handle that situation.
The passage we just read starts
with a noble request which leads to a God-given test and it teaches us about
the good versus the best.
A Noble Request
1Chronicles 17 – David was a
military man. For over four decades, he
fought war after war. Finally, there was
peace. 2Samuel 7 precisely says that
David was at rest in his home because the land was at peace. What do kings do when they’re at rest? They start to dream and think.
David starts to plan and
dream. He starts dreaming about building
a home for God. He explains, “I live in
a house made of cedar, but the Lord is in a mere tent. He dreams a very beautiful thing. Remember, David had a heart after the
Lord. It’s no coincidence that his
heart’s desire is to build a home for the Lord.
David then does the right thing
with his plan. He goes and seeks wise
counsel. Proverbs says, “With many
counselors, plans will succeed.”
David seeks out Nathan, a
prophet. Nathan says, “Whatever you have in mind, do it for the glory of
God.” Nathan appears to give
him the green light.
I encourage you, when you have a
dream on your heart, seek out godly advice from those around you. But, this alone isn’t enough. David had not yet heard back from the Lord. Everyone might say, “Go!” But, you have to wait and hear in case God
says no. Proverbs puts it like this, “Many are the plans of the human heart, but it is
the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
Church leaders take note. At
least once per - week, someone presents
a good idea for the church. Could you
imagine if we implemented all those ideas?
We don’t. The leaders of the
church discern carefully. “God, are You
leading us there?” “Yes.” “Are you leading us to do this?” “No.”
We cannot do it all. So, we
discern.
A God—Given Test
David has sought out advice,
which is wise. But, the Lord had a
different idea in mind. The Lord spoke
to Nathan that night and said the most painful words a person could hear, “Not
you.” It’s one thing to say no, but God
was actually saying, “Not you.” He said,
“It’s not going to be you, David, that builds the house. It’s going to be your son, Solomon.”
Think of a time when you were
told, “Not you.” Maybe you wanted to be
the pitcher on the baseball team, but the coach said, “Not you.” Johnny may have wanted to be a preacher up
front, but God said, “Not you. I need
you on the hospitality team.” Maybe
Michelle wanted to marry Chuck, but God says, “Not you, somebody else is going
to marry him.”
God says no.
God’s no is never a rejection, it is merely a
redirection.
All of these gentlemen were told
no by God:
·
Oswald Chambers – He
wanted to build a seminary. God said
no. Instead, Oswald wrote his classic
book, My Utmost for His Highest.
·
Billy Graham – He
wanted to be a chaplain. God said
no. Billy was redirected to become a
preacher to millions.
·
John Calvin – He
asked God for a quiet life of study. God
said no. John was thrown into conflict
and was key to the Reformation.
·
Apostle Paul – He
asked God three times to take the thorn away in his flesh. God said no.
“My grace is sufficient.”
·
Jesus Christ – He
asked, “If it be Your will, please take this cup of suffering away from
Me.” God said no. God saw the bigger
picture. If God took that cup of
suffering away, we wouldn’t have the old rugged cross. Our souls would never be saved.
If you have had God say no, don’t
be discouraged. Instead, wait in
anticipation for what God will do through you next. God’s no can sometimes be very exciting.
The Good Versus the Best
God redirects David by telling
him that his plans are too small. “You
want to build a physical house for Me.
My plan is bigger! I’m going to
build an eternal house. So, God makes
this beautiful, divine covenant in these verses. He said, “You David, want to build Me a
house. But, I want to build a house for
you.”
We are the house. We are the priesthood of believers. It all came through the line of David. Jesus Christ is prophesied in this
passage. God is saying, “David, you
wanted something good, but I have something better. I have the best in mind. Your son, Solomon, will build a temple and I,
the Lord, will dwell there. But, I’m at
work throughout the centuries with this great cosmic plan that you couldn’t
dream of. Through your line, Mary will
give birth to a Son, who shall rise up and save His church as the Bride dies
for the Bridegroom.”
God’s “best” versus David’s “good”.
This is what God presents. God’s plan is always bigger and always
better.
How do we respond to God’s
no? If you were David, what would you
do? You are the king. You have vast resources. Some of us would build the house anyway and
everyone would say, “Look at what David did!”
But, we’ve learned about a
positive way to respond. It starts with
David’s prayer. He approached the Lord
with humility after hearing this great, divine promise. He said, “Who am I, Lord? What is my family that You have brought me
this far?” He didn’t say, “Who are You
to kill my dream?” He said, “Who am I
that I should be spoken of so favourably by the God Most High?”
1
Chronicles 22 tells us that David
began to make preparations for his son’s temple. David rested in the sovereignty of God and
then he ran in the revealed will of God.
The scriptures tell us that David dedicated all of his resources to the
building of the temple. God appeared to
David in visions to give him precise details about what the temple would look
like.
God, in His gracious mercy,
involved David. It was David who received
the layout of the temple. David
assembled all of the wood and gold. He
commissioned all of his workers. He
threw all of his money at it. He said to
Solomon, “Son, this is your task. My
hands are too stained with ???? to build the temple for the Lord. Solomon, you now have a time of peace and
prosperity. Your hands are clean, build
the temple.”
Didn’t David respond well? May it be said of us that we could respond
with that humility and obedience.
I hope you’ve learned today that
God’s plan is always better than what you could imagine.
There was a family in Scotland –
seven kids, two parents, dirt poor – who worked for years so they could board a
ship to America. The father worked day
and night to save money. The day before
the ship was to leave, one of the children got bit by a little dog. This dog had rabies and the child had to go
to the hospital. Their dreams were
killed. God had said, “No, you’re
staying in Scotland.” To their surprise,
they learned that the ship they were to board, otherwise known as the Titanic,
had sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
They had a plan, which they thought was good, but God had something
better in mind.
Treasures
One by one, He took them from me
All the things I valued most
Until I was empty handed
Every glistening toy was lost
I walked Earth’s highway grieving
In my rags and poverty
‘Til I heard His voice inviting
“Lift those empty hands to Me”
SO I held my hands toward Heaven
He filled them with a store
Of His transcendent riches
Until they could contain no more
At last I comprehended
With my stupid mind and dull
That God could not pour His riches
Into hands already full
Let’s pray:
Our gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word, which is a lamp
unto our feet, honey to our lips, and a compass to our very souls. We thank
you, Lord, for the life example of David. And we thank you, Lord, that
sometimes you say “No” to us, because you are a good father. And good fathers,
on earth, say “No” to their children, and how much better a Daddy are you,
Father, for you see the eternal, cosmic, perspective.
Lord, I lift up the listener who has been told “No” by you, recently, and
who is struggling with that; and maybe, you’ve even said “No” to a noble
request.
I pray today, that the listener would be encouraged that you have
something better in store. It will be something different, but, it will be more
beautiful.
And, I pray for the person, right now, who’s tempted to ignore God, when
He says “No”; who is tempted to go along, anyway, and do his or her own thing.
I pray they ‘pass’ your God-given test, and submit to your will, surrender to
your word, and trust and obey.
Lord, we thank you that you are good and that you do good. And we give you
all the glory, this day. AMEN.
Thanks be to God!
Rev. Juliet Schimpf
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To listen to the above
broadcast, click on the following link:
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