“The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.”
These are words to live by. It is all in the Lord’s hands. Each moment we have with each gift that he gives us is a moment more than we deserve by right, that we can receive with thankfulness.
Job had this perspective, and he clung to it when he was at his lowest point in his life. When his wife told him to curse God and die, he responded:
“Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.’ 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” (Job 2:9-10).
And when tragedy struck his family he said:
“Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped. 21 And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’” (Job 1:20-21).
Job was not being stoic, he was not just grinning and bearing it. We know this because the book of Job shows us how Job wrestled with God and questioned why he, a righteous man, was going through these trials and troubles.
But ultimately he knew something very important about God: it is better for us to accept God’s will than to fight it. It is better to recognize the temporary nature of many things in this world, but the permanence of God who is at work no matter what. Because if we can do that, we will be content in times of trouble, and we will be like rocks in periods of tumult.
Job was able to remain grounded in one of the most terrible moments of his life, because he knew that every good gift he had came from God above, and his greatest gift above all of that was the gift giver himself, the Lord God. Let this be our perspective. It is our surest anchor.
