On my way back from a family funeral service for Nora Keuroghlian, God rest her kind soul, I passed a sign in front of a humble church with the phrase “God’s ‘no’ is not a rejection but a redirection.”  Funny that a sign on Curlew road can reveal wisdom for our everyday lives which also penetrates the depths of God’s relationship with humankind.  As we talked about last week, I think we all start off in the life of faith expecting that God is on our team-the giver of all good things-and of course God is.  But when we start to mature in life and faith, we face not getting some things from God. We face hardship in life, things don’t turn out just as we’d wish, we face sickness and even death.  These ‘no’s from God feel like rejections and they shake us in our faith. But then comes a sign; “God’s ‘no’ is not a rejection but a redirection.”  How is the job you didn’t get, the relationship that didn’t work out, the child that won’t listen, an opportunity for redirection instead of rejection?  Perhaps you need patience, more than your child needs obedience. Perhaps only the loss of a relationship will teach you not to take them for granted. Perhaps you need to trust more in God’s provision for your life’s work, and less on your resume.