Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
My grandsons live next door, and it’s not uncommon for me to stop in daily for a quick visit and some smooches. On one particular evening, I arrived just in time to hear my middle grandson, Jake, begging his Dad to allow him to choose the movie for that night. Brandon asked Jake which movie he wanted to watch, and Jake responded, although hesitantly. This was a movie my own children grew up watching. However, Brandon quickly chimed in, “Jake, you can’t watch that one. Choose another one.” Jake did not like his Dad’s response and wasted no time showing his discontent with the situation. Quite frankly, I was confused. Brandon gave him the choice. He made his choice, yet his father seemed unwilling to grant his request. Why? What was wrong with Jake’s choice? It was what he wanted. If Jake had been at my house, I would have happily delivered immediately upon his request. Lauren, seeing my confusion, called me out of the room and began to explain. It seems they noticed Jake was experiencing nightmares, and there seemed to be a correlation to the nightmares occurring after watching the movie Jake chose. It all suddenly made sense. Jake’s father knew his choice was going to lead to a negative outcome.
How often do we ask our Heavenly Father for something He knows is going to cause us harm, hurt or upset? How often do we respond the way Jake did? God sees and knows things that we, as his children, don’t always understand. Brandon is Jake’s father and was saving him from future upset and pain by denying his initial request. What an excellent lesson! We can make our requests known to our Heavenly Father, but when His answer is “no” we need to simply thank Him and trust that His decision is best. He sees what is down the road, around the corner and ahead of us. I’m so thankful for a Heavenly Father who loves us enough to say, “no” sometimes.
Are you?
Have you asked God for something you want and then thrown a temper tantrum when His response was “no”?
Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Our Heavenly Father loves us and wants what is best for us. Our Heavenly Father Knows Best.
Trust Him!!!!
I am a firm believer in prayer. I have seen many prayers in my 52 years in the ministry answered. There was some, yes, no, wait! Through the year I added one more, some of the prayer request I have heard I just knew that the answer would be “are you kidding”