...Because He is Love

"The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." -Job 1:21
This verse from Job, prompting the line from a famous worship song, has been the topic of much discussion in our little community. It does seem that people seem to particularly love this line as I often see hands raised and eyes closed for that portion of the song. While this may be due to the building music or the ease of the chorus, I suspect it could be something deeper that provokes this emotive response.
Our lives are cycles of receiving and losing things; everything we have is a gift from God ("What do you have that you did not receive?" -1 Cor. 4:7, "Every good and perfect gift is from above..." -James 1:17) and ultimately everything in this world, including our lives will be lost ("What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes" -James 4:14.) Is this depressing? Fatalistic? Perhaps. Does God take things away because he is jealous? Can't make up his mind? I can think of two explanations for the perplexity of the verse from Job.
First, God gives and takes away for our own good. Just as Nils cannot understand why I take a computer cord away from him or Soren gets bent out of shape when I don't let him play with a knife, we don't always understand why God takes away. I take things away from my kids not because I am unloving-preciesly the opposite. I take things away because I love them and do not want them to get hurt. I believe that the same thing is true of God.
While this metaphor helps me understand the "taking away" piece better, I think this explanation can sound a bit trite. Sometimes things are taken away from us that simply do not seem to make any sense from a Christ-centered worldview or otherwise. Although it may be small comfort, I find the words of 1 Corinthians 13 to be somewhat helpful: "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."
The second explanation for God giving and taking away provides me with much more comfort. Whatever is taken away from us, we believe in a God who gave his very self to us in the flesh and blood of Jesus and then humbly allowed that life to be taken away. We serve a God who knows what it is like to have things taken away. His power was taken away when he came as a helpless baby in Bethlehem. His innocence was taken away when he was falsely accused before Pilate. His dignity was taken away when he was stripped naked and beaten. His life was taken away on the cross. (Of course, it was not really taken away-he willingly laid it down.) To me, this is the great comfort in the line that he gives and takes away. He does it because He is love-and he gave us himself. I pray that gift is enough to sustain us in Him through the times of abundance and the times of pain.
If you've made it through this long-a** blog, I'll reward you with another blog entry from one of Abby's college friends. She and her husband struggled with infertility for years before adopting 2 beautiful kids from Ethiopias last year. This is a thanksgiving blog of hers touching on the gift of Christ's presence and touching on some of the same thoughts I just shared-enjoy.
http://everybitterthingissweet.wordpress.com/2010/11/25/how-can-i-ever-thank-you/

Ravi Zacharias "Postures of the Mind, Affections of the...

The undeniable work, power and presence of God in our lives personally and in His creation globally!