Caged Eagle: why God says no

Injured eagle rescued & now protected within cage in Sitka, Alaska

Why does God sometimes say No to things we seem to really need for peace and happiness?

Many years ago a small business I worked for shut down unexpectedly, leaving me unemployed in the middle of a recession a few months before I was to be married. I had a tough time finding a new job. Finally the owner of a small family photography studio offered me a receptionist position that would meet my former salary if I worked 48 hours per week. I took it.

On my first day, I discovered that what Tom, the owner, had called “some phone work” was really telephone solicitation, and that it was to be my main duty.

I hated it. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make my quota and my stomach tied in knots every morning as I faced another day of failure. Additionally, Tom listened to everything his staff said via intercoms so he could correct every mistake and critique every lost sale.

Though I was grateful for a job that allowed our wedding to go on, I felt I needed a less stressful job and prayed regularly for such. But time stretched on and I remained there.

***

The Israelites faced something similar. During the trek through barren desert to the Promised Land, God fed them manna. It sustained them, but they grew tired of it day after day, morning, noon and night. They craved lamb and fish and garlic and leeks. Why wouldn’t God give them a varied diet?

Later Moses told them one of the reasons God met their needs, but not their cravings, had been “to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3). In other words, sometimes God says No to teach us important lessons.

He wanted to teach them that just as their bodies craved physical food, so their spirits craved the spiritual food of God’s words, even though they didn’t feel hunger pangs in the same way. Cucumbers and melons could support physical life, but not spiritual life. They needed to seek spiritual life in His words.

The fact is, our deep spiritual longings can be filled only with eternal things.

Some people never grasp this. They chase pleasures, possessions and positions. They may feel a fleeting satisfaction whenever they grab one, but it soon fades and the chase resumes.

But God wants us to live by His words and seek fulfillment in the Creator rather than creation, in the eternal rather than the temporal.

***

I persevered at the job I hated. In God’s Word I found that He wanted me to respond by trying my best, being thankful that He could work this job for my good, and looking for ways to share the gospel.

After nearly a year, two co-workers turned their lives over to Christ. We met regularly before work for Bible study. Then we all found new jobs.

I discovered that having a job I liked wasn’t a need, but a desire, and life isn’t just about enjoying myself. It’s about doing things that have eternal purpose, things that God rewards eternally. That was deeply satisfying, more satisfying, in fact, than even the agreeable jobs I’ve had since.

Are you in a difficult situation where you lack some of the things you really desire? Go ahead and ask God to change it, but until He does, seek satisfaction in Him.

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. ~Deuteronomy 8:3

Related:  Why God Says No: A 3 Dog Tale

Many psalms in the Bible’s book of Psalms tell us to praise God. But if the Bible is God’s words, is this God commanding praise? Indeed, some skeptics complain that praise psalms make God appear egotistical. In fact, when I first read Psalms, this very thing bothered me.

Mangroves elicit praise
Mangrove Trees

But let me tell a story that clarifies what what I had missed.

A Trip Down a River

Clay and I once boarded a boat docked on the sea green Tortuguero Canal in Costa Rica. Its blue canopy shielded us from sun and sporadic showers as we glided slowly on the water on the lookout for wild creatures.

We spotted many birds, including tiny roosting bats and blue-and-white swallows. Iguanas and big-headed green basilisk lizards crawled on roots and branches. Both two- and three-toed sloths hung lazily in trees.

Tiny bats elicit praise
Tiny roosting bats

We floated between riverbanks thick with the big, heart-shaped leaves of balsa trees. Everywhere, skinny aerial roots reached from mangrove tree branches down to the brackish water. Heavy yellow fruit hung like pendulums on coconut trees beneath cream-colored frothy flowers and jade-green serrated fronds. Flamboyant flowers in showy colors popped amidst the deep jungle green.

We heard hidden monkeys howling from the tree canopy. We breathed in the soft perfume of the pale yellow ylang-ylang flower, from which Channel No. 5 is made. Our fingers brushed fuzzy red achiote seed pods. We tasted slightly crunchy lady fingerling bananas with their lingering, honey-like sweetness.

Natural Praise

We praised achiote
Achiote seed pods

With each new wonder, we said to each other, family, and even strangers things like, “Look! Isn’t it gorgeous?!”; “Here—feel how incredibly soft this is!”; “Did you hear that? Wasn’t it amazing?!”; and “Oh, you’ve got to smell this—it’s beautiful!” When our ultra-zoom camera caught details the eye couldn’t see, we passed it around to others: “Look at this!”

The boat was filled with excited chatter about the wonders surrounding us.

Isn’t that what most people do when they encounter something wonderful? It seems fitting to share our discovery with someone. And when others respond with equal delight, our enjoyment increases.

Why the Psalmists Call us to Praise

Northern Jacana elicits praise
Northern Jacana

In fact, as C. S. Lewis has pointed out, enjoyment is not complete until it is expressed and shared.

This is why the psalmists so often call us to sing praises to the Lord: They experienced God and responded by calling others to share in their joy.

I did not always know this. I confess that the first few times I read Psalms, I wondered why God told people to praise him. The idea made me squirm because I associated it with tyrannical dictators and bad bosses: people who surround themselves with Yes men, reward flattery, and punish disagreement. Since then, I’ve found I wasn’t alone in my confusion.

Even a sloth elicits praise
Sloth

What I missed was that the psalms aren’t God demanding people praise him. Rather, they are psalms by godly people who experienced the wonders and realities of God, and who responded naturally with praise and a call to others to witness and share their delight under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

C. S. Lewis on Praise

C. S. Lewis put it this way:

Basilisk lizard in Costa Rica elicit praise
Basilisk Lizard

All enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise—lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game—praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars.… Just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?” The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about.

C.S. Lewis, The Inspirational Writings of C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms (New York: Inspirational Press, 1994), 179 (Amazon affiliate link).
Spontaneous praise
Egret

On the Costa Rican boat, there was something else we did besides call others to marvel in tropical plants and animals: We praised their Creator, and thanked the Giver of all blessings. It was only fitting.

Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

Psalm 147:1

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Ylang-ylang brings praise for its fragrance
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Do the psalms tell us to praise God because God is egotistical? Or is something more delightful and spontaneous going on? Click To Tweet
UPDATED NOVEMBER 15, 2019