My Greatest Blessings Began with 'No' | Episode #063

What if the thing you're resisting today is the very thing you'll thank God for tomorrow?

Most of us assume we know what will make us happy. We avoid anything that feels like loss, discomfort, or surrender. But what if God's greatest blessings are often hidden behind the word "no"?

In this deeply personal episode, I share how every defining blessing in my life began with something I didn't want to do—from trusting Christ, to learning how to love my wife God's way, to leaving a successful career, planting churches, and stepping into the ministry God had prepared for me.

You'll discover:

• Why we naturally resist God's leading.
• How obedience often feels like loss before it becomes blessing.
• Why surrender isn't the end of your dreams—it's often where God's greater story begins.
• How Proverbs 3:5-6 has shaped every major decision of my life.

If you're facing a difficult decision, grieving an unexpected change, or struggling to trust God's direction, this episode will encourage you to stop leaning on your own understanding and start trusting the One who sees what you cannot.

Key Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6

Question to consider: What are you resisting today that God may use to become one of your greatest blessings tomorrow?

If this episode encouraged you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs the courage to trust God with their next step.

Free Resource: If you're ready to build a stronger marriage by becoming more secure in Christ, join me for the Safe Husband Workshop. You'll find the registration link in the show notes. The link is in the notes.

Time Stamps

0:00 My Great Blessings Began with 'No'

1:35 A question that could change your life

2:00 Three Reasons I almost missed God's blessings

2:08 #1 I thought I knew what would make me happy

2:41 When I finally admitted God knew better

3:05 #2 Obedience initially looks like a loss

3:35 It wasn't a loss. It was how God gave me the marriage I always wanted

3:57 #3 Surrender required me to give up something I valued...possessions, security, friends.

6:31 One of our greatest blessings...Lifeway Church Celina

6:56 Maybe my story has more to do with you than it does me

7:07 What are you resisting?

7:41 The thing you are resisting today maybe the thing you'll thank God for in the future.

8:01 As I pray for this ministry, all I hear God says is, "Trust Me."

8:34 A new resource: The Safe Husband Three-Day Free Workshop.

Connect with Craig @CraigWalkerCaoching

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Transcript

The greatest blessings in my life began with the word, “No.”

Last Sunday morning I was sitting quietly with the Lord—praying, listening, and simply giving thanks—when He reminded me of something profound. It brought tears to my eyes.

Almost every significant blessing in my life has come from doing something I initially resisted.

I started replaying my life—story by story. The greatest things God has done in and through my life began with something I didn’t want to do.

Here is a question that could change your life: 

Is it possible that the thing you are resisting today might be the thing you’ll thank God for tomorrow?

One of the most profound verses in the Bible admonishes us to, 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Here are three reasons I nearly missed God’s greatest blessings.

I RESISTED BEAUSE I THOUGHT I KNEW WHAT WOULD MAKE ME HAPPY

You’ve probably thought the same thing. You may have even said it, “I know what makes me happy.” I did.

Before I came to Christ, I spent years trying to make something of myself. I wanted to succeed, to be somebody, to have a lot of nice things. 

I had a great wife, a great job at General Motors, and all the toys I had dreamed of—a truck, a boat, even an airplane. Yet something was still missing.

In April of 1981, I finally admitted that money and success had not given me what I was looking for. 

I trusted Jesus Christ. That turned out to be the greatest decision I have ever made.

Looking back, I wasn’t resisting because I was against Jesus. I resisted the idea that His would could make happier than mine.

Here’s another reason…

I RESISTED BECAUSE OBEDIENCE INITIALLY LOOKED LIKE A LOSS

Not long afterward, I was out for a run with my pastor and friend, Kenny Lewis. Kenny quoted Ephesians 5:25: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her."

I remember thinking, There is no way a man can be happy giving up his life for his wife.

But I also knew my way of doing marriage hadn't produced the marriage I imagined. So, I decided to trust God instead of myself.

Instead of trying to make Debbie the woman of my dreams, I began asking a different question: How can I become the man of hers?

Initially, obedience, looked like a loss. It turned out to be the way I found the marriage I always wanted.

Here’s a third thing that almost made me miss God’s greatest blessing.

I RESISTED BECAUSE SURRENDER REQUIRD ME TO GIVE UP SOMETHING I VALUED

While God was transforming our marriage, He called me away from my career at General Motors and into full-time ministry. That meant selling most of the things we once valued—our new home in the country club, the airplane, and boat. And it meant going back to school and getting an education. The guy who had struggled in school, who nearly fainted at the thought of speaking in front of people, was now being called to preach God's word.

It was frightening. We trusted.

In 1982, God challenged Debbie and me to surrender our plans for our family and let Him determine how many children we would have. At the time, we had three children, and we were content with that.

Again, God was inviting us to trust Him in all our ways and not lean on our own understanding. We did. He made our paths straight.

God blessed us with Hannah, Abbie, and Hunter—and through them, six more grandchildren we never would have known.

In 1996, God called us to help plant Brownsville Community Fellowship.

In 2000, He called us to Indiana to plant Lifeway Church in Noblesville. That journey brought incredible joy, lifelong friendships, and also one of the deepest disappointments of my life. After six difficult years, I sensed God’s leadership to merge the church with another congregation and returned to Texas. I honestly thought I would never get over leaving those people and that work.

Then, just a year later, God began stirring our hearts to plant another church. While Debbie and I were attending a church-planting conference, she looked at me during a break and simply said, "This is who we are."

She was right. We trusted Him.

In 2008, we planted Lifeway Church in Celina, TX.

God blessed it beyond anything we imagined.

In 2014, God led me to begin investing in the young man who would eventually become my successor and one of my closest friends.

In 2018, He called Debbie and me to step away from the security of an established church and start over again launching another ministry — the ministry we're serving in today.

Once again, it required us to trust Him.

Last Sunday, Debbie and I joined many of our children at Lifeway's first service in its new building. Standing there in the new building, we joined with more than a thousand people worshiping the Lord, I couldn't help but think about all God had done. 

That’s when God reminded me, “None of this existed until you trusted Me.”

I realize that my story may not be about me at all. Maybe it’s about you. Maybe the thing you are resisting today… is the very thing you’ll someday thank God for.

What are you resisting?

Is there someone you need to forgive?

Is there a dream you need to surrender?

Is there help you need to get?

Is there a skill you need to develop?

Is there someone you need to serve? 

Is there a gift you need to give?

Is there a sin you need to confess?

Is there something you need to start?

Is there something you need to stop?

What if the thing you are resisting today is the very thing God wants to turn into your greatest blessing tomorrow?

Thing about it: That which you are resisting today may be the very thing in the future you’ll thank Him for.

Yes, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding.” Don’t lean on what makes sense to you. But “Trust Him…and He will make your paths straight.”

This morning I found myself praying for the future of Craig Walker Coaching.

The reach I hope it has.

The lives I hope to see transformed.

The marriages that I want to see restored.

The children who become proud to say, “That’s my dad.”

The churches we get to serve.

And while I was praying, the only thing I sensed God saying, were these two words:

Trust Me.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this talk. Thanks so much for listening.

Let me tell you about a resource that I just developed. It is a three-day workshop: 

It’s the Safe Husband Workshop. Secure men make safe homes… Homes where everyone is free to become all God created them to be.

The best life you’ll ever live won’t be found in figuring out you are enough. It is found when you discover God is enough.

Let me show you how to trust Him in a way you never thoughts possible and experience the marriage you always wanted.

The link is in the notes. If you know someone who needs this talk or could benefit from the workshop please share it with them.

Until next time, may the Lord help you to live the life you were born to love.