Saying No........ To God

I grew up in a religious tradition where it was wrong to say no to God. God was like the ultimate drill sergeant. God said "jump" and you said "How hi?". God said "Go there" and you said "Yes Sir".

This is a very dangerous view of God. It leaves God as a dictator and human beings as the ones who are subservient to God. We have no say and no way of pursuing our own destinies. My more Calvinist brothers and sister would suggest that God's outcomes are predestined and humans don't have a say in that outcome.

I would have agreed with that about a year ago. Not on the predestination stuff but rather on the idea that when God calls you answer with a yes. We have only to look at the Jonah story as evidence of that. However, that is what it seems at first glance.

What happens if the gift of the story is not on the outcome but rather the journey. That God knew that Jonah had to say "No" in order for him to own where God wanted him to be. Maybe saying no to God is the best thing we can do. Maybe that is a gift that we have failed to explore more fully.

When we read scripture and something jars us because that God looks barbaric; just say no to God. When life gives horrible tragedies say no to God. God is big enough for our honesty. God's ego will not be hurt because we are questioning God's authority.

I have discovered that this saying no to God is an ancient Jewish practice. Where readers would question God and some cases say no.

In the story of Abraham having to sacrifice Isaac, what kind of God thinks that is ok?
Say no to God! Jar with God! Fight with God! Get angry with God.

Maybe we need to say no, in order to say yes. To own our yes' and not feel like God is a drill sergeant.