When God Answers With “No”

I I don’t know where you are right now. Maybe you’re barely hanging on, or maybe you’re just going through the motions, numb to everything—including God. Maybe you’ve stopped talking to Him altogether, not because you don’t believe, but because you’re exhausted. Disappointed. Angry. Maybe you think He stopped listening a long time ago.

I’ve been in that place—the place where I wasn’t praying, wasn’t seeking, wasn’t even sure I wanted to anymore. And not because I didn’t believe in Him. I always believed. But I was done trying. I was tired of feeling like I was pouring out my heart to a God who felt distant, tired of holding onto faith when my world kept falling apart.

So, I walked away. I didn’t make some big declaration. I didn’t say, “That’s it, I’m done.” I just… stopped.

And for a while, nothing happened. No lightning bolt. No earth-shattering moment. Just silence. And in that silence, I convinced myself that God had probably moved on, too. That maybe my lack of pursuit meant I had forfeited His presence.

But I was wrong.

Because even when I wasn’t speaking to Him, He never stopped covering me.

I look back now, and I see it so clearly. The moments I should have been destroyed, but somehow wasn’t. The times I made reckless choices that should have led to disaster, but didn’t. The days when depression told me I had no purpose, no future, no reason to keep going—and yet, somehow, I did.

I remember the night I asked God to take my life. I wasn’t being poetic. I meant it. I didn’t want to wake up the next morning. And I honestly thought He might grant me that request because I was useless to Him. I wasn’t serving Him. I wasn’t being faithful. I wasn’t even trying.

But He didn’t take my life.

Instead, He protected it.

Not long after, I was in a car accident that should have left me broken. I should have been seriously injured—or worse. But I walked away without a single scratch. I sat in my car, shaking, knowing deep down that this wasn’t luck. This wasn’t coincidence.

It was mercy.

His answer to my prayer was, “No.”, and praise His Holy Name for that!

It was God saying, I still have you. Even now. Even in this. Even when you think you’re too far gone.

I don’t think I even realized the momentous amount of His mercy in that moment. I knew it was something, but I didn’t fully see it for what it was.

But I sure see it now.

On the other side.

It’s always on the other side.

So if you are in it—in the heartbreak, in the darkness, in the numbness—hold out longer. Because the other side is coming. And when you get there, you will see what He was doing all along. You will see the ways He was protecting you, guiding you, carrying you—even when you weren’t looking for Him.

Because His love isn’t conditional. It’s not something you can outrun or disqualify yourself from. You don’t have to earn it, and you don’t have to chase it.

It’s already there.

He’s already there.

And when you finally turn back, when you lift your eyes from the place you’ve been stuck in, you’ll realize that He never left. He never even moved.

And He never will.

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” – 2 Timothy 2:13

Sometimes, God’s answer is no, and while it can be painful, it’s never without purpose. We may pray for something with all our hearts, convinced that it’s good for us, that’s it’s what’s best for the word, but God—who sees the full picture—knows what we cannot. His “no” isn’t rejection; it’s redirection. It’s Him protecting us from something that could harm us, preparing us for something better, or drawing us closer to Him in trust.

In those moments, we have a choice: to let disappointment harden our hearts or to lean into His wisdom, believing that His plans are higher than ours. Even when we don’t understand, His love remains unwavering, and His “no” is often the first step toward a greater “yes” we never saw coming.

And boy, does He say yes now! Looking back, I can see how every closed door led to something greater than I ever imagined. The prayers I once cried over, begging God to change His answer, were actually His way of leading me to something better—something perfectly timed, beautifully crafted, and undeniably from Him. When His “yes”, and when it does, it makes every “no” worth it.