Job 1:21
Job 1:21
Today is the day we have set aside to truly meditate on and appreciate the full meaning of thankfulness! Hope my morning thoughts bless you all. 😋
My thinking times usually occur during daily tasks and today was no exception. 😄 As I was washing dishes it occurred to me that when I made my thankfulness lists throughout the years I would only think to scribble down things that the Lord had GIVEN but never of things He had TAKEN. Job 1:21 immediately came to my mind. Job had just been given the news that his home and family had been destroyed. He was hit with wave after wave of grief filled news as each messenger breathlessly gasped out their mournful tales. And yet after receiving the terrible news he said the name of the Lord was blessed! He thanked God for GIVING and TAKING away. Job TRULY understood and FULLY knew all he had been given was from the Lord for a season (Ecclesiastes 3). He knew Lord had the power, by His wisdom and own tender hand, to either take some or all he had bestowed on Job away or allow others to remove the gifts He had given.
Job exuded such deep dependency in his simple yet profound reply to a horrible situation. You never see him trying to figure everything out. All that is seen is a surrendered disposition that said, thy will, not mine. All you see is a thankfulness for both the giving and taking. And so I realized that God gives and takes away FOR MY GOOD and I need to thank Him for BOTH!! He gives good gifts for every season and when He takes away a gift or gifts it is because He wants to give me something better. Something needful! He wants to give me the specific gift or gifts that will give me the wisdom and strength to walk thru all He is preparing for me. Just like a parent would take away a child's favorite cozy winter coat and give them sunscreen and flip flops because winter is over and summer is coming. The child may not understand why their favorite jacket is being taken and the jacket itself isn't suddenly a bad thing. It is just not needful and can be harmful in the coming season. That example is so simple but hopefully it helps give you a glimpse into the heart of God.
I hope this post makes you ponder the things God has given and taken away and then causes you to say, "blessed be the name of the Lord". ❤
