I guess you don’t have to call her Cordelia after all.

My girl didn’t get the part.  Oh, she got a part.  We all did, as it turns out.  But she didn’t get the part.

So, as I mentioned last time, my job is now to help her deal with the disappointment.  It’s hard, because there’s no one really at fault.  No one I can put the hurt on, if you get my meaning.  She did her best, but someone else got the nod.

She asked, and God said, “No.”

She’s not alone.  God says, “No” to a lot of people.  David, the man after God’s own heart, got a big fat “No” when he wanted to build God a temple.  Now what could be better than wanting to build a temple for the glory of God?

Maybe playing Anne of Green Gables for the glory of God?

Apparently not.

There’s no way to figure out for sure why God says “No.”  Sometimes the plan is at fault.  If what you desire is not good, I doubt seriously whether God would bless your plan.

So I can scrap my ideas for hacking the Pentagon and “acquiring” my own F-22.

On the other hand, your plan might be perfectly righteous and thoroughly God-honoring.  It just may not be His plan.  As he says through Isaiah, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways…”

This would explain why I’m still not a bajillionaire…even though I would totally tithe on the full amount.  Before taxes.

The fact of the matter is that there was nothing wrong with Carissa’s Anne plan.  It’s just that, in this case, only one girl got to hear, “Yes,” and it wasn’t my girl.  If it had been, the other girl’s dad would be writing this post—though without my flair—and I would be writing about the whole host of issues that came along with the part.

So, what do you do when you get  “No?”  My favorite, and thoroughly unsuccessful tactic, is to ignore God completely and go for the gusto anyway.

You may remember one of the great television shows of all time, Sledge Hammer! 

You don’t?  The spoof about the Dirty Harry-style cop?

Really?

It was on for two whole seasons in the mid 80’s, for crying out loud.  Where were you…watching Miami Vice and Cosby?

Anyway, the series finale ranks as one of the best in all of televisiondom.   Hammer was attempting to disarm a nuclear bomb in the midst of downtown L.A.  He faced the typical T.V. scenario: should he cut the blue wire, or the red.  The clock was ticking down to 0.  Full of confidence and without a clue, Hammer says, “Trust me; I know what I’m doing.”

Snip.

Boom.

The next image on the screen is a wide shot of Los Angeles being consumed by a mushroom cloud.

So that’s what I often do when God says, “No.”  Full of confidence and without a clue, I tell him, “Trust me; I know what I’m doing.”

The result is usually a “Boom” of one form or another.

Fortunately, Carissa doesn’t have the option to ignore God on this one.  If she decided to just show up and play Anne, there would most likely be negative repercussions.  So my girl gets to go with option #2, which is to accept “No” and see what God has to offer in all this.  She gets the opportunity to learn wonderful and painful lessons in humility and service.  And she gets to trust that God really does know what’s best for her, for the theater, and for everyone involved.

She’s a great kid; I think she’ll learn fast.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

I know that’s out of context, but I think it fits.  It’s one of the nicest verses to hear, and one of the hardest to live by.

Trust him; he knows what he’s doing.