He gives and takes away


“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” -Job (Job 1:21)

What a statement. This is profound. Despite his circumstances, Job praises the Lord. That takes some real commitment and some real dedication to the Lord to say. I don’t think I can fully appreciate this statement. It must have been a struggle to loose what was pretty much everything, and in those days they did not have like a safety net or like welfare for people to go to. If you lost everything then it is exactly that, you lost everything.

It is a weird time in my life for this verse to come along. I am in the midst of a financial hardship with really no relief in sight and bills coming down my throat. It’s not like it is going to get any easier too. However, it is difficult to get to the end of the maze, when every time you make a turn, on what you think is for the better, it turns out to be a dead end. It is tough and I feel like there is on end in sight. Today after staring at my accounts I am totally at loss. I sit here and ponder what the next step is, and really it’s not like I lost everything, but man I am being pushed to the end of my rope here. But this verse, Naked I came... Naked I shall return.... The Lord gives and takes away... Blessed be the name of the Lord, rings so true. It’s no so much what happens to me it is what my reaction is to it. My heart, my attitude towards God. This will either build me up or tear me down depending upon my attitude. That is what Job had, I want his attitude. I read a quote by Charles Swindoll, Here it is...

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company ... a church ... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you ... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”


This is exactly what God is showing through his servant Job. Follow his attitude. God knows that all things work for good according to His purpose. So my part is to have a good attitude about it.
Lord help me to know the attitude I need to have for this season in my life. I know that you work for the good. I trust Lord that things will come together for the good. I trust Lord that this will happen.

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