Month: July 2018

When God Says “No”

On By Michele Huey, Author & SpeakerIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. ­–Proverbs 3:5–6 NLT

When we lived in town and our oldest was still a baby, we rented a second-floor apartment but yearned for a house of our own. When the house across the street – one I’d admired since we’d moved in two years earlier – came up for sale, we applied for a mortgage. And were turned down.

No surprise. We didn’t have the finances and weren’t in any position to buy a house.

But I was angry. Angry at God. I wanted that house in the worst way. So what if it was practically on the street and had a postage-stamp backyard?

I threw a royal hissy fit.

In time, God worked with me, softening my spirit so I could hear His voice. Psalm 37 spoke to me, especially verses 3 and 4: “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (RSV)

I took this as God’s promise to me that Dean and I would someday have a house of our own, with plenty of land around it. In times of doubt I’d read the psalm over again, clinging to verses 9, 11, and 34, believing against circumstances that we would one day “possess the land.”

I’d always dreamed of a house in the country, but I’d wanted that house in town so badly, I was willing to forego my dream home.

As I look back – that was over 40 years ago – I see how events played out, orchestrated by Almighty God, who had something better in mind when He said “no” to the house in town. We have our dream home in the country, with 13 acres surrounding it.

When King David planned to build a temple for God in Jerusalem, God said “no”: “You shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight” (1 Chronicles 22:8 NKJV).

Talk about a slap in the face! The wars David fought were so Israel, God’s people, would have peace. The blood he shed was Israel’s enemies’ blood. And this was the thanks he got? David wouldn’t get to build the Temple, but his son Solomon would.

If that were me, I’d have a hissy fit, whining and complaining and reminding God of all the good things I’d done for Him, and why I deserved a “yes.”

But David accepted God’s “no” and got everything ready for Solomon. He drew up the building plans, gathered materials, developed a schedule for the priests and singers once the temple was completed. No wonder God called David a “man after My own heart.”

Then there was the Apostle Paul, the great force behind the explosion of the first century church. He was whipped, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, and jailed, all for Christ. Three times he asked God to remove his “thorn in the flesh,” which added suffered on to suffering. Three times God said “no.”

Like David, Paul accepted God’s answer, realizing that God’s “no” meant something better: His grace.

Prayer is not a vending machine. You don’t plunk in your request and wait for your selection to drop down from heaven.

But rest assured: God hears and He will answer: yes, not now, or “I have something better in mind.”

When God says “no,” how do you react? Do you pout, get angry, doubt God, lose your faith? Go after what you want anyway, and make yourself miserable?

Or accept God’s answer and find peace, knowing that His answer will always be the best one for you.

Thank You, all-knowing and all-wise God, for always working in ways that are best for me. Amen.

Read and meditate on 2 Samuel 7:1–14 and 2 Corinthians 12:1–10

© 2018 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.

Fake News and False Hopes

On By Michele Huey, Author & SpeakerIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

 

For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. – Psalm 33:4 NIV

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. –Isaiah 40:8 ESV

Scrolling through my Facebook timeline one morning, I came across an interesting video about a new diet plan that was supposed to be biblically inspired.

I was curious to hear what the author had to say about the nutrition secrets she said she discovered in the Bible that would help you to “lose weight, look great, feel younger” and give you more energy than you know what to do with (don’t they all claim that?).

So I watched the video. Well, most of it. And with a grain of salt.

She was a good salesperson. I almost believed her. But her over-the-top claims and a lack of real detail about the eating plan itself led to me believe this was just another copycat low-carb diet. I checked the reviews, which weren’t glowing – and I went to several different websites. Many used the word “scam.” One reviewer even posted a drawing of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

How sad. Even sadder is that she uses the Bible, God, and faith to sell her product.

Watching the video, I could see how it would stir up hope in folks. But it was a false hope.

You’ve got to be careful these days. Technology takes deceit to a whole new level.

Take, for instance, photographs. It used to be a picture told the truth. Not so any more. Using programs such as Photoshop, you can alter a picture by putting things or people in or taking them out, turn items around, or change background scenery so it appears people were where they really weren’t.

And then there are the false news reports and prayer requests posted online. Like the urgent request for a little boy named Dakota who was supposedly life-flighted to a trauma center. After about the umpteenth time it posted, over many months, I checked the legitimacy of this on Snopes.com, which is a good resource to help sort through fact and fiction.

What really breaks my heart is the false hope these deceitful practices give people. No wonder folks are skeptical, cynical, and resistant to believe even the truth when it’s given.

Is there anything we can truly put our faith in? Is there anyone we can believe without a shadow of a doubt?

Yes!

The Bible is full of promises you can believe because the One who made them is someone you can count on.

Here are a few of His promises you can deposit in your promise bank and withdraw whenever you need them. Please note you can never use them up, so once you use them, you can put them back to be used again.

There are lots more where those came from! And you can believe these promises 100-percent because the One who made them keeps His Word. He cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18). He is faithful (2 Timothy 2:13).

God. His Word. His Promises.

Tried, true, and trustworthy.

Which ones do you need today?

Thank You, God, that there IS something I can believe in – You! Amen.

Read and meditate on Psalm 19:7–10.

© 2018 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.