Tuesday, January 5, 2010

He Gives and Takes Away

One of my favorite songs says:

He gives and takes away.
He gives and takes away.
My heart will choose to say,
"Lord, blessed by your name."
This week we have had to really cling to that truth! We heard a few days ago of old friends of ours from Little Rock who had moved several years ago back to Oregon. We kept up via facebook and their life was going along just like ours...normal, fun, blessed, small trials, etc. Then we get a status saying that the wife wasn't feeling well and was driving herself to the hospital and her husband was meeting her there. The next day, she had died. So suddden...so tragic...so confusing, especially for her family. So lovely...as she is now sitting at the feet of Jesus with full knowledge of all things. No sadness...no tears...no worries. "He gives and takes away."
Yesterday we got word of a family in our SS class who brought their 5th child, a girl, into the world. So beautiful...so full of promise...so much joy. So hard....as she is now completely dependent upon them for everything. No more easy days for a while...no quick exits from the house...no more hands free outings. "He gives and takes away."
But with both of these, our family and both of these families have chosen to say "Lord, blessed by your name." A great way to start the new year, by seeing the power, majesty, and love of the Father and honoring Him with blessings and praise.

3 comments:

Shelly, OTA in training said...

I love that song too. It just reminds me that so often we think we're in control but it's really God. And you are so right - it's just up to us to choose to still praise Him no matter what.

Nitzia said...

a couple of days ago i was thinking of this exact Bible verse in Job 1:21... i forgot all about this song. i just really want this Bible verse to be a fact in my life, i want this words in this Bible verse to penetrate my soul, spirit, bone and marrow, i want to be ready for whenever difficult times come our way! thanks for sharing, you always bring us great insights!

Anonymous said...

Powerful reminder, Lisa. You know what that song means in my life. I was thinking this morning about how merciful God is to us...that while we hated Him, He died for us.

Lord, teach me to love like you do.