Is the word "No" necessary??

After reading, The Stranger at Home, I have been watching to see how my children respond to the word NO. I did not do it to tempt them, nor did I do it to test them. I simply responded to the issues before me as I would any other time. But now, with this story so fresh in all of our minds, I was seeing how we were all doing in this area.

Now I must include my own heart in this matter. If I am not able to show my own response to "No" with a willingness to trust the Lord in all areas of my life, I could not expect my children to follow in my footsteps. Or maybe the footsteps they would be following would be the ones I was bringing to their attention in their own lives. This would have left them bitterly frustrated with a double standard.

So, do I handle my "NO's" well??? Most of the time I can place my trust in what the Lord is working out in my life, but there are other times I am arm wrestling with the Lord. Too many times my heart's first response must be subdued and taken captive to the ways of the Lord. Oh how sweet the victory when I know I am submitting to him and how deep the depths of personal shame when I have my fist upward towards God in my heart. Yet, He continues to lead me so kindly into places of repentance and sweet fellowship with Him again even though my earlier determination was to dethrone Him over what truly is a trivial matter in light of the glories of His sacrifice and eternal gift.

Now what...I must show my children not only their attempts to dethrone Him by their desires but to know Him such as Romans 2:4 states "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?". Will they, like me, struggle from time to time with the word "NO". Yes! But each time I will be there and be grateful I can point them to the one who sacrificed it all to inherit a sinner like me and them as well.

I will then testify, the word "No" is a measuring rod. It will tell us if we are willing to lay down our life, pick up our cross and follow Him. All of us must be reminded, encouraged and strengthen by the "one another's" the Bible speaks of. Each time, even more precious with our own children, we must love the opportunity to point them to such an amazing, stead-fast, never changing, ever present Holy God...who tells us "No" when it is necessary.