But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the Lord said to me: “Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter.” (Deuteronomy 3:26)
This verse fascinates me — the LORD got angry with the man He had chosen to speak with, face to face. Not only that, but that Moses could and would verbally engage the Creator of the Universe in such a way that it would prompt the Almighty to finally say, “Enough of that!” is mind boggling. It almost sounds like a parent speaking to the child who want take No for an answer until the parent has to angrily say, “Hush it up! And don’t bring it up again.”
Reading this it occurs to me that, generally speaking, people have a hard time with the word, “No” and especially in our day and age. There are some, in fact, who take pride in the fact that they “won’t take No for an answer.” Their attitude is that sheer determination and bull-headedness are virtuous and praise worthy because refusing to take No for an answer is how things get done. Perhaps that is true sometimes but there are times that No should mean No and be respected as the proper answer. I’ll put it this way — believers need to appreciate the value of the word, “No,” because it might protect us from a lot of trouble.
We understand that, because we have a Heavenly High Priest, we can boldly approach the Throne of Grace and make our petitions known. Paul taught us that, “With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). In other words, we believe that when we pray and make our requests known to God, He hears those requests — but He doesn’t always grant them. Sometimes, He says, “No” and, as His people, we need to respect that response and, like Moses, continue on with what He has told us to do. If we truly regard Him as our King and Master, it is only for us to hear and obey, even when He says, “Hush it up!”
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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