Day 3 | You Want It… But God Said No (Let Go and Transform)

Have you ever been in a place where something made perfect sense to you?

It looked right. It felt right. You even prayed about it. And yet… the answer didn’t come the way you expected. I know I have been there. Many times. I remember praying for a baby boy…at least twice. I have 3 girls.

That’s very often a difficult place to be in. Praying hard, earnestly for something you are convinced is best for you - a decision, an outcome, a job, a resolution to a conflict, a financial breakthrough…

It’s tough because it’s one thing when we know something is wrong. It’s another thing when something feels right… and God still says no.

Right here is where surrender becomes real. Because surrender is not tested when we agree with God. Surrender is revealed when we don’t.

1 Samuel 15:22 (KJV) says, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”

This scripture is telling us that obedience carries more weight than what we are willing to offer God.

We can pray. We can fast. We can justify what we want. But when God gives direction, what matters is whether we follow it.

And that, Family, is where the tension comes in—because sometimes what we want and what God is saying are not the same.

And this is not always about big decisions. Sometimes it looks like:

We want to move forward… but God is saying wait.We want to hold on… but God is saying let go.We want to say yes… but God is prompting us to step back.

And in those moments, we have a choice: Do we follow what feels right to us… or do we follow what or where or how God is leading?

Deuteronomy 8:2 (KJV) says, “And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee… to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart…”

These moments are not random. They reveal what is really in our hearts.

Question is: Do we trust God… or do we trust our own understanding more?

We know this: It is easy to say we trust God until His direction doesn’t match our desire. Any honest people here? My hands are up!

We see this clearly in Scripture.

Think about Balaam. His story is found in Numbers 22–24 (KJV). Balaam was a prophet who was approached by Balak, the king of Moab, and offered rewards to curse Israel.

God gave Balaam a clear instruction: do not go with them. 

But when more honourable men and greater rewards were offered, Balaam went back to God again, hoping for a different answer. The opportunity looked good, the reward was appealing, and instead of standing firm on what God had already said, he entertained it.

Eventually, God permitted him to go, but not because it was His perfect will, it was because Balaam kept pressing. And on that journey, God had to confront him through the angel of the Lord, even using a donkey to stop him.

And let me just say here, because I’ve often heard about God’s permissive will and His perfect will: God’s will is one, but we experience it differently depending on our response. We are either walking in full alignment with His perfect desire for us, or we are moving into what He permits when we insist on our own way. Scripture shows us this in Romans 12:2 (KJV), which speaks of the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. 

But back to Balaam. The lesson is this: when God has already spoken clearly, going back again and again can shift us from obedience into compromise. Sometimes the issue is not that we don’t know God’s will… It’s that we are hoping His answer will change. And we know the Word of God says in Malachi 3:6 (KJV): “For I am the Lord, I change not…”

Truth be told, sometimes we are like Balaam.

God has already shown us something… but we keep revisiting it, hoping the answer will change. But God is not confused. And His direction is not based on how strongly we feel about something.

Isaiah 55:8–9 (KJV) says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord…”

So, in effect, what makes sense to us is not always aligned with what God sees. And that’s why surrender matters. Because surrender says, “Even if I don’t understand… I will still follow.”

Now, I know that’s not always easy. Because letting go of something we want can feel like loss.

But Scripture reminds us in Luke 9:23 (KJV), “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

Family, following God will require us to deny ourselves at times. Not everything we want is meant for us. Not every opportunity is assigned to us. Not every open door is from God.

Honestly speaking, sometimes, it’s not that we struggle with hearing God…What it is, is that we struggle with accepting what He said.

And that’s where surrender is revealed. Not when we release what we don’t want…But when we release what we still want.

So what does this look like practically?

It looks like walking away from something or someone, even when we have the ability to pursue it/them. It looks like choosing obedience over what feels comfortable. It looks like trusting that God’s “no” is not rejection, it is direction.

Because God sees what we don’t. God sees what is ahead. God sees what could harm us. God sees what could distract us. And His “no” is often protection.

So if we find ourselves in that place today where something makes sense, feels right, and yet God is saying no, we can pause and ask:

“Am I willing to trust God more than I trust what I want?”

Because surrender is not proven in what we give up easily. It is revealed in what we release… even when we still desire it.

And when we do that, we are not losing. We are aligning. And that alignment will always lead us exactly where we need to be.

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