NO For the Greater YES

5/27/14

A few weeks ago I was watching a trailer of a movie, like I often do to find and acquire movies for my Christian movie ministry.  I was writing a blog draft as I watched and listened to the trailer.  As I was writing I heard a series words that caused me to stop what I was doing and pay attention to what was being said.  Why?  Because these words gave me a revelation that was well overdue.  It felt as though my heart stopped beating and quickly restarted once the words were heard.

The focus of the movie (true story) is about a young terminally ill woman.  The young woman, her family, and the whole town were praying for her healing.  For a time things looked like their prayers had been answered, she was in remission, doing well and serving GOD to the highest degree in missions work but then there was a sudden change and it became obvious to her and somewhat a denial for others that she was indeed going to die.  Her faith kept her hopeful but as time passed she began to surrender to what she knew was the inevitable.

This synopsis of the movie isn’t what shook me, but when the young lady said these words, “When GOD says NO it’s because there’s a greater YES in the future”  an ah ha moment took over and I began to see things differently.  After hearing these words, I had no choice but to do a life review and I began to replay in my mind the times when GOD said NO and the significance and impact of HIS decision on my life.

Some of the most heartbreaking NO’s in my life were the most damaging to my spirit.  One of the most significant times in my life when GOD said NO was during a time when my whole world began to crumble beneath me due to a great personal loss.  My best friend, her unborn child, one of her other daughters and my 15 month old son were in an auto accident in 1976.  I drove upon my friend’s car on my way home from work and knowing she had my son with her I was frantic.  My son’s heart stopped several times. As I looked around me it was like a scene from a movie their bodies had been thrown from the car and now were bruised and broken and being transported to the closest medical facility.  I was in shock.  This couldn’t be happening.  This had to be a dream or a hellish nightmare but unfortunately it was real.  I found myself in an emergency room in such emotional pain and agony that I felt I wouldn’t survive.  My son’s condition was grave, his tiny skull had been crushed and if he lived he’d be a vegetable.  Surgery was immediately scheduled to release the pressure on his brain.  I began crying out to GOD, begging, pleading with GOD and it was during my last resort, as I was in the process of bargaining with GOD, that my NO came.  My son died within four and a half hours of his arrival to the hospital never regaining consciousness or having the surgery.

This happened a week before Christmas, I was angry at GOD and even went so far to say I hated GOD because HE said NO.  My best friend, her unborn child, one of her daughters and my son were taken from me forever.

During my life review the greater YES was exposed and I found myself seeing the validity of those words which are also true of GOD’s character.  If you think about the characters in the Bible those with the greatest impact for the kingdom were people to whom GOD said NO. 

When we’re going through our life’s journey and GOD says NO, whether it is to the degree of my NO or a lesser degree, we must remember that there is a greater YES in the future for HIS glory.  We can’t see the plans and purposes of GOD, there’s no snapshot for us to see of the greater YES so this too is one of those mysteries about GOD that we aren’t privileged to.  Therefore, by faith we must trust it to be true.  If HE says NO there is a reason unknown to us but known to GOD.

My greater YES came much later as I was silently drafted into a life of marketplace ministry in the workplace.  I was placed on the front lines of the onset of the AIDS outbreak in 1981 and for many years that followed in order for me to show GOD’s love and compassion to those affected.  I started a women's ministry out of my home and that blessed the community in many ways.  I later was called and instructed to host prayer breakfasts bringing competitors in the health care industry together to fellowship and support one another.  In my most recent years I've had the privilege to minister through the prayer and altar ministry at my church and in February, 2014 my territory continued to expand through the starting of my Christian movie outreach ministry.  This blog site is one of the greatest in the YES category because GOD has continuously touched lives, week after week, in 9 countries and the USA since the first post on December 6, 2013.  These YES moments have set me on a path to walk boldly in my destiny, one that I couldn’t ever imagine. 

GOD has used me in so many ways and venues to touch lives on HIS behalf that although my loss and my NO was devastating, over time the results have proven the YES in my past, and the YES in my present have been indeed for the greater YES and the greater good.   The comfort in all of this is knowing that one day, when my work is done, I will see my son and my GOD face to face.

Be encouraged, when GOD says NO lift up your eyes towards GOD and look forward to the greater YES in your future for HIS glory, honor and praise.  There is where you will find the help you need until your YES arrives. 

Psalm 121

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

GOD bless.