The Relationship of No

The Relationship of No

11/8/14

We all have hear this word used from countless people that we are associated with and we have heard this word used in other circumstances that even make us angry at times.  Many times we ignore the circumstances surrounding the usage of this word and react according to our wants instead of our needs.  The word “no” is a powerful word and it draws a line in the proverbial sand when used, but it is the importance of the relationship between the parties that makes this word effective and protective at the same time to which both sides understand the reasoning behind its usage.  If, no relationship is present or if one is damaged in any way, then problems set in and distance will eventually creep into play which will quickly demonstrate and then dominate the setting.

Many times in my younger life I had my parents tell me that I could not go somewhere, do something I wanted or attend certain events.  While I did not truly understand the complete reasoning as to why I could not do these things, I did know that they had their reasons for not allowing me to participate in said activities.  Most of the time when I heard about the events that I did not attend, all had a good time and nothing went wrong.  However, there were a few occasions when the news of these events was not so tidy and after everything was said and done, come court cases were pending.  But even with this type of activity and potential disastrous results it still did not keep me from asking to go to those events in the future and receiving the varied answers from my parents. 

The question remains and many times we do not immediately think about it but do we really comprehend the reasons why our parents or those in authority above us say “no” at times.  I understand completely that there are those in these positions just say this word without even taking into consideration of the consequences and they use it as a power control word in order to reign supreme over the ones that are under their tutelage.  It is this type of repeated occurrences that form the opinions of animosity and division between the parties involved; knowingly or not.

At one point in time in our country’s history we had a decent relationship with God.  It was our desire to keep as many of His ways close to our hearts and our status within the world reflected this attitude.  Over time we have gradually lost this covenant decision and have drifted off onto our own path.  This process has taken quite some time to achieve but if one looks back it will not be too hard to find our variances and how they have affected our voices throughout world history.  This country and every other country who have tried to pattern their governments after our standards have done quite well within the world community. Of course there are those who have no wish or desire to align themselves with our belief system but that is their choice and we should respect that choice as much as possible.

I remember when I was young watching some of the debates on TV that pitted one political party against another for hours at a time.  Of course when lines have been set and drawn publicly those who stand on opposite ends must defend their stance accordingly.  I also recall that when the debates were over and the issues had been properly placed into their folders for the day that all opponents left together, ate dinner together, conversed together and were actually friends and they had no problems displaying this fact.  They held their ground yet the camaraderie of the overall goal of the country was still intact and respected by all parties involved.  When heated words turned to anger and hateful speeches the entire country was TRULY shocked and appalled at such behavior, simply because presence of the established relationship between the opposing sides.

Today we do not see this type of relationship occurring and it has become commonplace to spite anyone with an opposing opinion instead of trying to understand why they differ.  I mentioned a while back about an example of this playing out at the State of the Union Address that commenced this past year.  It serves as the perfect example because most of us know that at this event all of Congress, all of the Supreme Court Justices, Vice President, leaders of the Joint Chiefs of the military and other high ranking officials congregate in one room for the words of the President of the United States, so one would believe that this opportunity would prove to be a kind of friendly environment but at this last year’s address it was plainly and painfully obvious that each side had members that did not want anything to do with the other; which only provided a visual proof of what we all knew was brewing within the ranks of our country.

Hateful words that include a “violent” no within the context now rule our land and if one does not like your opinion, way of life, or belief then you have subjected yourself to a lawsuit or at least a damning and public ridicule of your opposition.  How is this effective in bringing into place or trying to establish or reestablish a relationship that is needed in order to understand our differences?  The usage of the word “no” is not always a bad setting, but if we cannot understand the reasoning of why others use that word how can we come together in order to get things done properly?

The same questions and settings apply to our spiritual lives where God is concerned.  There are many out in the world that believe that God does not exist, that they have no need for God or flat just create their own god in order to cope with everyday life.  If we truly do our best to try and to establish and maintain a relationship with God it will be so much easier to accept His answers and laws within His Constitution.  It is so very common to try and to do things on our own and God knows and understands this, but if we return to His ways our lives and lifestyles will be so much healthier, both physically and spiritually.

A word of note that we need to place into our hearts and remember at all times: as long as we continue our separation from God there shall be NO opportunity for peace and comfort between our fellow man.  It is physically impossible to have any peaceful relationship with anyone else while we verbally and publicly commit to run our lives on our own.  A wishy-washy relationship with God or no relationship at all will only cause an internal crumbling that if not corrected shall lead to a complete destruction. You want evidence of this you will not have to look any further than the condition of the Church internal.  And all of this is due to the fact that someone else, in the spiritual case God, tells us no?

A good example of the relationship status between God and man is present in the story of Abraham and the issue with Sodom and Gomorrah.  I am not going to deal with the popular Sodom and Gomorrah issue at all in this article but the relationship status will take precedence.  There is a lot of information we can take from this setting about how God works, how He listens and the reasons as to why He has set His plans into motion through our lives.  All of these conditions would increase our trust in His will for our lives and further our understanding that He wants only the best for our lives, no matter if the issues directly reflect upon us or not.

One of the more fascinating examples that we have that gives us relationship between God and man is when God was speaking to Abraham and informing him of His plans for these two cities.  This brings up an interesting scenario because the relationship status for both sides is brought up in this setting and it tells us a great deal about the two cities at the same time.  God had sent His messengers to complete a couple of missions at once one was a fulfillment of a promise and the other was a fulfillment of a promise, both promises by God.

After God had spoken the words of life to Abraham, His messengers had to leave to complete another task.  Abraham had the guts enough to ask where they were going and then go even further and try to change God’s plans.  The first portion of the relationship issue was the physical in that Abraham was familiar with the cities that were being the subject of the punishment of their choices.  Abraham understood and had been associated with those cities that he knew about the spiritual conditions of them, both at an earlier time and at that moment when the conversation was occurring.  If Abraham did not understand this about the two cities then what he was trying to suggest to God would be considered a lie and God would have mentioned this fact for God cannot withstand lies being directed towards Him at any time.

This action by Abraham concludes that at one time the two cities did not share the same views as they did at that time, which means that over a certain period of time those current opinions and desires had grown within the community enough to warrant such action by God.  Just as Abraham counted down the amount of righteous within the walls of those cities, so did it represent the past and present conditions of the cities, to which Abraham tried his best to delay the actions of God.  At a certain point God had had enough of Abraham’s arguments and said no to any further communication about the subject, because both God and Abraham both understood that the last number that they agreed upon was still not low enough to save the cities.

This setting represents both the physical and spiritual relationships that Abraham and God had between each other.  If Abraham did not understand his Heavenly Father well enough to know His heart, he would have not had a leg to stand on when trying to spare the cities from total destruction.  It also provides us an account of how willing God is to talk with us about anything if we wish to have communion with Him on a continual basis.  If Abraham did not have any type of relationship with God it would have been surprising if Abraham would have been outraged at the information that God had provided, but Abraham understood God, sin and the consequences of both the physical and spiritual relationships of each.  It also supports the reason why Abraham did not throw himself into a fit and pity party after God said no more.

What we also must keep in mind is that if we fail to establish and then continually develop a relationship with our fellow man, both parties will eventually become enemies.  Read history and one shall see this come to pass.  It may not be on an individual level but as a group or even national level it most certainly can grow into this state; conflicts and small wars have been started over families; remember that there have been wars fought over goats and who did what to another’s herd.  This also provides evidence and facts that even though people are similar in beliefs they can and will differ but it is still the choice of the human to develop relationships or not.

I gave a single example about how our country is falling into the internal isolation policy that has destroyed many people’s lives along with hundreds of countries and nations existences over the millennia.  It is difficult for me to see this pattern emerging and progressing on an hourly basis throughout this land and I am here to inform you that if we do not change our ways and turn our desires and hearts back to God our country is in for a huge awakening in the form of a great shaking, and I am not referring to a happy one either. 

It breaks my heart that the Church has aligned herself with the world and has begun her rejection process of God.  She has fallen suit with our nation and with western ideological pitfalls which can lead to only one conclusion, destruction.  Over the past few decades the Church has fallen into a dark compass and has refused to admit and then repent of her sins against God.  Until this act of repentance is shown and followed, she shall never be as great as she was meant to be; in fact, she shall only dwindle in strength until her existence will be seriously jeopardized.

It is time that we realize that our relationship with God has been compromised so much that it is about to be formally cut in the name of secularization.  God has called His people to be separate from the world and to set an example of how to live, act, and believe.  Still, we divulge in worldly pleasures and seek out earthly treasures and lay God’s aside for someone else to pick up. How dangerous of a game we are playing since our normal state within our human thinking is to progress in the manner to which we are accustomed.

It is clear that we do not have the type of relationship with God that Abraham had and right at this moment we care nothing about having such a relationship with Him.  In our past troubles, we have always turned back to Him for protection when things have gone astray, but will He respond accordingly with the next disaster that strikes?  I cannot say for sure that He will for this time we have deliberately snubbed our noses and fingers towards Him in total defiance like never before.  So, the question still remains, will God finally say “no” to our pleas for help because of the choices we have made to separate ourselves from His ways?  I pray that this is not the case but I cannot guarantee that His blessing will be upon our lives when this next great tragedy occurs.

There is a small window of opportunity to curb our arrogance and to return back to God’s ways and repent of our sins.  This window of opportunity is growing shorter and cannot be stopped unless we ask for forgiveness.  We cannot maintain this status that we currently employ for very much longer; the weight is tremendous and shall crush us through other earthly mannerisms, which can only be birthed from our enemy.  Never ever underestimate the human mind and spirit when it is guided by our spiritual enemy, the consequences and results are dire and endless.

There is only one way for us to avoid the word “no” from God and that is to voluntarily choose His ways once again.  The action is called repentance and the His results are known as restoration.  Restoration is a promise if we only choose to accept Him in our lives.  It is well known that God’s ways are not the ways of the human and some paths have already been taken with their results coming into light, but we can still minimize or even nullify some of the future consequences if we just place our lives at His feet.  God is watching us and understands the condition of our hearts.  And like a great parent would, He must pull in the reigns of our freedoms and choices at some certain point.

DLB