Have you ever not asked someone something because you knew they would say no?
When I was growing up there were many things, I did not ask my mother because I knew she would say no. I would try to be a sneaky, sneaky and see if I could get away with what I wanted to do. Sometimes I was successful but other times I got in trouble for not asking permission.
Have you ever heard the saying “it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission?” It basically assumes that what you are going to do is not going to be approved of by those in authority. So do it and hope you don’t get caught. That’s terrible advice by the way so don’t take it.
King Ahab was by far the worst King ever known and that is a pretty awful title to have. As he was leading Israel, he decided to team up with another king called Jehoshaphat to recapture part of there land. Being a good king Jehoshaphat insisted that the enquire of the Lord before going ahead with the attack. This suggestion is met with a mixed response from King Ahab. He is happy for them to enquire through the 400 prophets of Israel, but he is not keen for one prophet called Micaiah. You see according to Ahab, Micaiah never prophesied anything but trouble for him.
It’s so fascinating that 1 out of 401 prophets bothered Ahab so much!
Have you ever not asked God about something because you thought he would say no? I know I have. I have been so excited about something and have determined in my own experience that it’s a good idea that I don’t want to have God spoil it by saying no. There have also been times when I have wanted to tell someone exactly what I think of them. I have wanted to give them a piece of my mind and I don’t want God’s opinion because I really want to do it. I know it will feel so good ….. at the time.
Part of maturing in faith is learning to surrender things to God even we feel He is going to say no. It’s not easy to do especially when we are very emotionally passionate about something. But it’s in this surrender that we learn to trust in God even when circumstances don’t go our way. We learn to trust that He sees things far more clearly than we do.
As it turned out, true to previous form Micaiah did give the report that King Ahab didn’t want. He said that they should not go into battle. True to form King Ahab ignored Micaiah’s advice and went into battle. It was in that battle king Ahab lost his life.
That’s a pretty big consequence for not accepting a ‘no’. King Ahab’s pride and arrogance and refusal to listen to God lead to his death. There is a penalty we pay when we don’t listen to God. Now while it may not be death the consequences may play out in the workplace, relationships and even our health. If Ahab had humbled himself and obeyed Micaiah’s words that battle would not have been his last.
Let us learn from the foolishness of Ahab and not be fools ourselves. If we are already convinced that God is going to say no to something, then we already know that it’s not good for us. God is not out there looking to spoil every fun thing we want to do. God is passionate about us living an abundant life. And an abundant life comes from learning to accept some ‘no’s’ from God along the way.
Lord, There have been times when I have avoided you because I knew you would say no to what I’m doing. I am sorry for not obeying you. Please help me to have the humility to accept your no’s as a sign of your love and protection of me. Amen
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