THE GIVER — AND THE TAKER
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"The LORD gave — and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." Job 1:21
Noble posture this — to kneel and to adore! To see no hand but ONE! Sabeans; Fire; Whirlwind; Sword — are all overlooked. The Patriarch alone recognizes "the Lord" who gave and "the Lord" who has taken away. What is the cause of so much dejection, needless sorrow, and unchristian murmuring — in our hours of trial? It was what Rutherford calls "our looking to the confused rollings of the wheels of second causes;" a refusal to rise to "the height of the great argument," and confidently to say, "May the will of the Lord be done!" A refusal to hear His voice; His own loving voice, mingling with the accents of the wildest storm: "It is I!" "When disaster comes to a city — has not the Lord caused it?" Is there a bitter drop in the cup — and the Lord has not mingled it?
The Lord loves His people too well — to entrust their interest to any other. We are but clay in the hand of the Potter; earthen vessels in the hand of the Refiner of silver. He metes out our portion. He appoints the bounds of our habitation. "The Lord God prepared the gourd!""The Lord God prepared the worm!" He is the Author alike of mercies — and sorrows; of comforts — and crosses. He breathes into our nostrils the breath of life; and it is at His summons that the spirit returns "to the God who gave it!"
Oh, that we would seek to regard our own lives and the lives of those dear to us — as a loan from the Divine Bestower. God, as the Great Proprietor, when He sees fit — can revoke the grant or curtail the lease He gave! All mercies by Him bestowed; by Him continued; and by Him withheld. And how often does He take away — that He Himself may enter the vacuum of the heart, and fill it with His own ineffable presence and love! No loss can compensate for the lack of Him — but He can compensate for all losses! Let us trust His love and faithfulness as a "taking" as well as a "giving" God. Often are Sense and Sight tempted to say, "Not so, Lord!" But Faith, resting on the promise, can exult in this Rainbow spanning the darkest cloud, "Yes, Father, because this was Your good pleasure!"
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