Complimentary Story
January 2025I recently saw a video of a man who, on his wedding day, said to the Lord publicly when looking at his soon-to-be bride, “Thank you for all of the no’s.” Did you hear that? Thank you, Lord, for all of the no’s, “no’s” to the other girls who were not the right ones. He was so thankful that he went through the process that the Lord put him through so that he might marry the right one.
When I saw this video, I immediately thought of Christ as the Groom and the Church as the bride (2 Corinthians 11:2).
I began to ponder all the “no’s” that the Lord has told to me throughout my life.
How many times (Unbeknownst to me, at the fault of my Biblical ignorance) I would have chosen an idol to put in the place of my God and my Maker is more than I can count.
By the way, the Lord will never bless you with something that removes Him from the throne of your heart, never.
And today, just like this man who thanked the Lord for all of the “no’s,” in agreement, I thank Him as well.
In Exodus 20:3-4, the First Commandment tells us, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me” and the Second Commandment tells us, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…” This means not to create a god that suits your sins (materialistic objects, houses, cars, men-women, money, etc.). After all, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).
All the things that the enemy and his minions point to are there to motivate the lost in chasing down what this world calls fulfillment (Matthew 4:7-10). I am here to tell you, not so! What the world offers is a lying counterfeit, a mockery of the Lord and His will, leading to the Ishmaels (Not the right ones), and in the end, a road that leads to death (Proverbs 14:12).
In 1 John 2:15-16 it tells us: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
We will only find the Lord when we seek Him with the whole of our hearts (Jeremiah 29:11-13; Also read Matthew 6:33), and not until then. What the Lord adds to our lives always comes secondary to Him and His will, period (And is better than what we asked for, although it’s not always easy – Genesis 22:12).
However, if one continues to think that they know better than the Lord, you will never understand the lesson in this article. Remember, patience is the weapon that forces deception to reveal itself (Luke 21:19).
With the knowledge of God’s Law driving me to the foot of the cross, that is, where the Law can do no more (Galatians 3:24), and until I knew His Law (Romans 3:20), I didn’t understand why it was that I needed to repent (Acts 20:21). The Law stripped me of my self-righteousness (for my righteousness is but filthy rags in the sight of God; Isaiah 64:6), only to turn me to Christ in putting on His righteousness and not my own (2 Corinthians 5:21).
And Lord, this is that for which I am thankful!
“…and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God…” (1 Thessalonians 1:9).
