It seems silly to suggest we might say no to God if we really are accepting of his all-encompassing power. Yet, we say no to God all the time. We say no to him when we fall short in obeying all his commands. We say no when we make choices that are – without question – born of self-interest (and perhaps often to the detriment of others).
And maybe more striking than anything else, we say no to God when we put off his call on our lives.
There are implications to saying no, of course, and some of those implications are more unfortunate than others:
By saying no to God’s leadership in your life, you will miss out on the actual reason for which you were born. You will quietly live a second-rate life, sometimes sensing the missed opportunities, feeling unfulfilled like an actor waiting to perform, without knowing why. When you become a Christian you take your first step out of futility and into your destiny. – Pete Greig in Dirty Glory: go Where Your Best Prayers Take You (page 289)
Saying No to God According to the Prophet Malachi
The prophet Malachi talks about robbing God in Malachi 3:7-12. It begins with the very simple observation that, in withholding tithes, you are essentially robbing God. The remnant Christians at that time were guilty of putting their resources toward personal gains rather than God’s Glory. Many of us, I am sure, can often be found just as guilty.
The irony of it, as God says through the prophet, is that in NOT putting resources into God’s storehouse, we’re depriving ourselves of God’s blessings, too.
When we say no to God and our calling, we’re depriving God, ourselves and the world in many ways. Let us consider saying yes to God.
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. Malachi 3:10-11 (NLT)
And finally, by saying no to God, we are depriving the rest of the world. In the days of Malachi, God would have made Israel a “poster nation” of sorts by blessing them abundantly in return for faithfulness. In verse 12, he says; “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
However, that cannot come to be when the whole nation (v. 9) is cheating God.
The World Needs You to Not Say No to God
On January 3rd, 1888, Rev. Mark Guy Pearse delivered a sermon in Steinway Hall, Portman Square, London. During that sermon, he reminded us of our call in serving Christ. He said:
Just as the author Greig reminds us, saying no to God means we will “miss out on the actual reason” we were born.
Likewise, as the prophet Malachi shows us, saying no robs God and ourselves. It also robs the world. And finally, as the Rev. Pearse explained it, we are to be the light of Christ to that darkened world. Saying no to God means saying no to the light. We should instead let our words, deeds and actions should show and point to that light.
Saying no to God, though it’s an option, isn’t a very good option.
Consider what might happen if you were to say yes to God.
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