What God Takes

How many times have you been encouraged to “count your blessings”? But have you ever considered thanking God for what He takes away? That’s a bit more challenging. A lot, actually,

I know that I haven’t written in a long time. It’s not that I don’t have anything to share; I think of things all the time. Think about how I would say things. However, I don’t usually actually sit down and write it out.

But God has been working in my heart and has been teaching me things. Things that are good and uplifting as well as things that are hard.

With this being November and the month of the US Thanksgiving, it seemed appropriate that I do a 21 day Bible reading plan on Gratitude. What an uplifting subject, focusing on the goodness of the Lord, thinking about all the things that He has done for us, and praising Him for His greatness and majesty.

Then there was yesterday’s reading. Romans 1:21. I knew where that was going and didn’t really want to read it. But I did. I knew that Romans 1 painted a bleak picture in that God’s power and glory are clearly displayed in creation and the things that He does. But many choose to ignore what God has clearly shown. They choose to not give God glory and aren’t thankful. God eventually just lets them go to reap the natural consequences of their own choices.

But over the past few days, I have been challenged in my thinking (or maybe simply just reminded) that God doesn’t OWE me anything. Any good thing is a blessing and a gift from God (James 1:17). He is the one who is constantly giving to me. Gratitude keeps the focus on God and what He has done rather than on myself or my circumstances.

But then God brought to mind a song that I had sung in the chorale in college. To be honest, it wasn’t one of my favorite songs. But the verse that God brought to mind goes like this:

What He takes or what He gives us
Shows the Father’s love so precious;
We may trust His purpose wholly–
“Tis His children’s welfare solely.

 

Is it a blessing if God takes away something from us? Something that we would even consider good? That’s hard. But God often takes us through tough times to draw us to Himself. Sometimes it is to purify our own lives. Sometimes it is just to strengthen our faith. Sometimes as we see in the case of Job, that it is simply for His glory–to show us more of Who He is.

I’ve lately been struggling with my back. It’s a long story that began on a rainy night my senior year of high school when a drunk driver hit the door of our car right where I was sleeping. In the next {few} years, it’s been a series of ups and downs. This past year, I found Pilates and was so encouraged as I began to feel better, becoming stronger and having less pain. But I knew that there were still some things that needed to be addressed. So we’ve just started going to a different chiropractor. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the worst), Andy was a 7. Then the doctor looked at me and told me I was a 15! I was both surprised and not surprised. Knowing the history of my back, it did not shock me, but I had been doing so well, very flexible and stronger.

But yesterday, we reviewed the x-rays. It showed no curve in my lower back and a great loss of curve in my neck with deterioration starting in some of the vertebrates. Not a good picture at all. I have dreams and desires that–in my mind–hinge on having optimal health, including my back.

But God is not surprised by all this. He has a purpose for all of this. Realistically, I will never be back to 100%. I don’t know what my optimal health will look like when we complete our care plan. But I do know that God has a much better plan than I have. Could He heal me? Absolutely! Andy said something a few months ago that really resonated with me. “We may not know what God WILL DO, but we must believe that He CAN.” But I would also add to that. We must believe that God will do what is best for us.

God doesn’t heal everyone. Some people feel like if they believe hard enough that God will heal them. But even the most godly people aren’t healed. The apostle Paul had a “thorn in the flesh.” Whatever that was, it wasn’t pleasant. He asked God to take it away. God’s response: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Hebrews 11 talks about the heroes of faith, many of whom went through extreme difficulties, not having deliverance from their trials, yet being commended because of their faith.

I don’t know the end of my story. I don’t know what struggles you are going through today. But I do know that God is good. His purposes are much higher than ours. Sometimes His ways are past finding out. But He is in control and will do what is best for our (eventual) good and His glory.

So the question remains. If God takes something away from us, can we still thank Him? Can we still trust Him in the dark times as well as in the light? We must not be remiss to thank Him even in the hard times and gratefully trust Him to do what He has planned.