Have it your way.

The Word for today:
Psalm 106:34-48

mark this: Psalm 106:15 --
He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.

There are lots of valid reasons why parents say No. Some of their reasons are the same reasons that Our Father Which Art in Heaven sometimes says No to our prayers.

And then there are No's to this that are Yes's to that. For example, I would like to be more humble. But if I get some of the things I've asked God for, I most certainly won't be getting humble anytime soon.  So God's No to one prayer is Yes to another prayer.

We get to the point, through parenting and experience, that we start to understand a few of the No's to our prayers. But if we don't get to that point, God provides incidents in scripture which emphasize what great blessings his No's can be.

One such incident, which has come to be called "the gold cure," is found in Exodus 32. After Israel worshipped a golden calf, Moses made the idolaters drink the gold he'd ground to powder.

In Numbers 11, when Israel complained about the manna God gave them for food, God gave them their desire -- quail -- for a month straight, until it became so loathsome that it came out at their noses.

But the Bible's most important instance of the "gold cure" occurred later on, when Judah would repeatedly lapse into idolatry. Eventually, God as much as told them, "If it's idolatry you want, then it's idolatry you'll get," as he sent them off to Babylon, the very epicenter of idolatry. The cure worked; after an exile of 70 years, Israel would never again be characteristically idolatrous.

The exile to Babylon was an instance when God gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul (Psalms 106:15).

Which casts new light on the question, "What part of No don't you understand?"

'No' doesn't deserve the negative reputation it's gotten!

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