Sometimes it’s a “NO”

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

 

 

I always wanted to be a cheerleader.  I mean I really REALLY wanted to be a cheerleader…  But, friends, even with a graduating class of just 35 people, the odds were not in my favor.

I tried out every single year.   And I worked hard at making up those cheers and learning those “peppy” jumps.

My junior year, I finally went all out.  I even got my good friend to help me work on my moves.  She’d graduated with a squad that had been nationally competitive, so she knew what she was doing.  I, on the other hand, had crazy long legs that appeared to have a mind of their own when I did any organized sport.

In an effort to give me an edge, we came up with quite a dramatic moment in my “original cheer”.  I remember my friend saying, “If done right, this will ‘wow’ the judges for sure!!”…

From a standing position I was supposed to fall straight to my knees and, almost simultaneously, collapse my arms and face to the ground.  (There is a graceful and safe way to do this, apparently, but I never got the hang of it)

When I walked across that gym floor — all alone — and stood in front of those judges, my embarrassingly skinny legs and knobby knees were already bruised badly from practicing.  When I made my “big move”, the judges literally gasped… and not because they were impressed.  I think they were afraid I might break in half right then and there.  In the end, I did not make the team.  Again.  And I was truly heart broken.

When my mom came to pick me up from school that afternoon, I was standing in the shadows waiting for her to arrive.  I ran to the car so we could get out of there as quickly as possible.

She asked enthusiastically if I’d made it?!

As I sat there, knees bruised and humiliated, I told her, “No. I didn’t”  And then, with a tearful smile, I said something that she has reminded me of countless times since that day:

“If God knew how much I wanted this and He still chose not to give it to me.  How much greater is the thing He must have for me instead?”  

Sometimes we ask God with our whole hearts for something, and He does not give it to us.

The truth is this:  Some things He CHOOSES not to give it to us

That’s a harsh reality, even on our most Christian days.  And sometimes the heartache we face while staring through the void of that unanswered prayer is enough to make us want to give up on a lot more than that one thing.

Trust me, I didn’t know it then, but cheerleading would pale in comparison to the things God would choose not to give me in my adult life.

You know what?  If He’d given me some of things I cried tears over and pleaded for on my knees, I wouldn’t have had the benefit of the tranquil Mediterranean Sea as a source of inspiration for this week’s post.  My world would pale in comparison because the dreams I have for me do not compare to the ones that God has for me.

Do you want a dime store version of life done YOUR way?  Or do you want a “Pressed down, shaken together and running over” kind of living?

Our Father knows the beginning with a direct line of sight all the way to the end.  He cares MUCH more about our happiness, our calling, our kids, our jobs, our finances, our EVERYTHING – than we ever could.

Does this mean we stop praying, pleading, asking??

NOT FOR A MOMENT.

ASK for all that is on your heart.  Beg, if you must.  I’m a prayer warrior and I will not stop praying for and believing for HUGE things, and neither should you.  But when the answer is “No.”  Let. It. Go.  You will know when it’s time.

Then brace yourself because THE GREATER is on its way.  Maybe not tomorrow, or the next day.  But it’s coming.