Listening To God When He Says “No”

There will be times in our life when God tells us “No” and we will have to be okay with it. Whether it be a job, relationship, school or anything else, we need to trust his plan. I recently had a situation where I clearly heard God say “No” and I still did not listen and ended up getting hurt. 

When I Clearly Heard God Tell Me “No”

It was in my last relationship. I just recently started dating this guy that I really liked. We had such a good time together and such a good connection. Everything with him was easy. I was in bed, unable to sleep and I decided to pray about the relationship. I told God “If he is not the one, if he is not meant to be in my life, please remove him from it, because I cannot do it myself. I like him too much and would not have the heart to break up with him.” As I said amen, my phone vibrated with a text from the guy I was dating. Impeccable timing. He was texting me to tell me that he doesn’t think things are going to work out and that we should not continue seeing each other. 

I was devastated. I was angry. 

In that moment I thought “God, how could you?” I wanted to take back what I had said, but God clearly told me “No, he is not the one.” and he removed him from my life, just like I asked him to moments earlier. I wanted to say “wait, no, come back” but it was over and I had to accept it. 

That was the clearest I have ever heard God say “No.” That was the sign. God could not have screamed it out to me any clearer. He might as well have taken me by the shoulders and shook me until it was ingrained in my head “This is not the plan for you, let him go. I have someone better.” Did I listen to him? No. 

When that guy came crawling back, I took him back with open arms and fell harder for him this time than I did the first time. When he broke things off again, I was so angry and devastated yet again. I wish I had listened to God the first time. 

That was a huge lesson that God taught me, to trust him and to listen to him when he says “No.” Now I have learned and will not make that mistake again. It took even more hurt to learn my lesson, but God’s plan was crystal clear.

Accept It

It is hard to be told “No” in general, but when God tells us “No,” it is like a punch to the throat. When God tells us “No” we should accept it, because we know that he is telling us “No” for a reason. He has a reason for everything. Everything that happens in our lives has a purpose. We should learn to accept the “No” that God gives us and trust him. 

Trust That He Has A Better Plan

He has a better plan for our lives, one that is better than we could ever imagine for ourselves. He has a reason for telling us “No” and that is because he has something bigger and better in mind. He has a perfect plan and he has to take some things away in our life to make room for the better things that he has coming our way. 

God took away that relationship from me because he was not the person I was supposed to be with. He has someone better coming my way, but he couldn’t do that if I was in a relationship with the wrong person. He took away that person from me because he knew that I would not break up with him myself. 

God has a reason for everything and has a perfect plan. Trust him. When he says “No,” listen. He has something better and we should be more trusting of that.