Rosangela Atte lost a bidding war on a foreclosed house 23 years ago. Two years later, the same house came back on the market, renovated and affordable. She sees the initial loss as God's protection, not rejection, and argues that sometimes no means not yet.
And I want to tell you something that happened to us 23, 24 years ago. My husband had received a little bit of money from his father selling a house in Italy, and we were going to use that money to buy our first house. So our budget was not big. The down payment was not big. So it was— our choices were very limited, and there weren't many houses on the market. We needed 3 bedrooms minimum because we had 2 kids, and I was expecting a a third one. So we went to look at the houses, and there was one that we really, really liked. We especially liked the big basement because we wanted our kids to be able to play and run around. It was gonna be 3 boys, so God knows they need space to run around and get their energy out. But anyway, that house was for foreclosure. That means that the bank had taken possession of the house. And so we went to court with 2 or 3 other people to bid on the house, and we could only bid $1,000 over the asking price. And another family bid $10,000 over the asking price. So, we lost the house, and the other people got it. And we were so sad. We were so disappointed. And we really, really thought that that was the house for us. And 2 years go by, and I'm pregnant again with our 4th child. And the house that we had bought only had 2 bedrooms and a little den, and we really needed more room. And it had no basement, no playroom that was big for the kids. Very, very small space. And so we went to look at houses again, and again, our budget was not very big. So there was only one house on the market that was available in our budget. And when we went to look at it, we realized that it was the house that we went to see 2 years prior that we bid on, and they did work in it. And we got it. We were able to buy that house. What I want to say with this is that sometimes God's Denial is just a delay because He knows if you can handle that. Like if we would have gotten that house, I don't think we would have had the funds to fix it and to do the work that it needed to be done. But two years later, we got that house for less money, and the work was done already for us. So God wants to give you the desires of your heart, and I'm not talking about materialism here or manifestation. That's all I'm talking about. I'm talking about that when you're walking according to God's will and you Um, or humble and obedient. And when God says no, you just, you know, you accept it and you trust in God. We trust you, God. I trust you with this. Uh, you said no because I know that you have something better for us. And sometimes, you know, it's a no, but sometimes it's just a delay. So I just wanted to come on and encourage you that if you are going through a hard time right now because the Lord has not answered your prayer, your request the way you wanted, it's because he loves you. It's because he's protecting you. It's because he's protecting you. It's because He knows that you would not be able to handle what you're asking for. He knows what is the best environment for you, the best job, the best connections, the best place to live, whatever it is that you're asking for.
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