Sometimes God Says No

In light of the election results many people are questioning the outcome. Sometimes I think I must not be a realist, perhaps a bit too much of a Pollyanna, but I prefer to believe once I have done all I can to make a difference, in faith I am turning it over to God and letting Him take care of the upcoming change.
Trails of thoughts have traveled in and out of my mind this morning. One in particular has been about the little boy who seeing his mother in ill health decided the best way he could help was to offer to go to the store to get the loaf of bread she needed. Imagine along with our 4-year-old: “I’ll just run to the store really fast. You know I can run fast, Mommy! I know where the bread is and I’ll get only one loaf of bread. I know how many is one. Then I will pay the nice lady and I will hurry right back home. I won’t stop to play with Mrs. Henderson’s puppy on the way home either, honest, Mommy. I can do it and I will be your big boy helper.” But…Mommy said, “No.” In our scenario we will assume Mommy explains all the reasons why she says, “No,” but not all scenarios are that simple and not all situations are going to be explained in our lifetime.
Turning down another trail of thought sometimes we simply have to trust that God knows what is best for us even though all we see is hundreds of puzzle pieces. Imagine life as a gigantic puzzle (it is that, isn’t it?) of which all we have is the pieces, not even a picture of the completed work. As we start putting the pieces in place we begin to see the scene forming; God, on the other hand, knows exactly what the picture on the front of the box looks like because He is the artist who originated the scene. He is The Beginning and He is The End…and He is The-Ever-Present-In-Between! “…for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU…” (Hebrews 13:5b NASB)
The conclusion leads us to this: whatever the reasons for the election outcomes being as they are, as God’s children we have this admonition from 2 Timothy 2:1-4 (NASB): “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Is it possible that God said, “No,” so that all of us who were praying would continue that habit in as strong a manner that the real outcome of those elected would be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth?
Now that would be a change we all could live with!
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 11-5-08