The Lord Gives and He??? 5/24/2016

Good Morning,

I embraced this morning with a wake up smile, a dog running around to get outside and chase a robin eating my grass seed and the java machine spewing out some Door County Chocolate Cherry Coffee. What a start to the day!

We all heard the Bible verse from the book of Job.

Job 1:20-22English Standard Version (ESV)
²⁰ Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 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.”
²² In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

In this chapter of Job we see that Job has lost everything, family, livestock, and homes. The losses incurred by Job were huge. I would like to think about this gives and takes away theme for a minute.

Have we ever looked at it this way?The Lord gives and the Lord takes away so that He can give us what is better for us?

For instance I had a friend who lost his drivers license due to being drunk behind the wheel. He was forced to ask for rides or take the bus. The circumstances caused him to ask God to show him the good in losing his drivers license. While riding the bus, my friend would look up the news on his smart phone. He was reading an account of a drunken driver who went the wrong way down the road against traffic. Part of his being able to avoid jail was that he had to attend sobriety classes. He realized that he had been sober for a year and he hadn't had to feel the guilt of killing people with his car. God took away and gave. God gave him freedom.

I remember being lonely and praying about it. I lost my job and ended up working in a hospital. I thought losing my job was the worst thing that could happen. Did I mention that I met my wife there at the hospital? We have been married for a 1000 years. Sometimes God has to take things away in order to give us better things or thoughts.

This leaves us with a choice, When what we deem as bad , or when things are taken away, do we have the faith to trust God for the outcome? I read an account of a lady who lost her child in a mass shooting. It was written that she had extreme peace. When asked about it she replied " I had her for six years. She is in heaven now and will never see the loss of her own child, or cancer, I trust that God saved her from something else. I am thankful for the six years I was given. I can't imagine the last six years without her.

Friends the sun is coming up and it's time to get ready for work. Oh, by the way the sun will come up again tomorrow. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Marty