The Giving and the Taking

Wrapping up the saga of Esther in the Old Testament (no really, it takes my breath away still), I started reading the book of Job this morning. Job doesn't need any introduction because the trials of his life are infamous. There's even a line that people use a lot in popular culture; The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

This line is quoted in books or movies, as the secondary characters comfort the grievers around a fake casket. And I'm probably not wrong in assuming that people quote it in real life. Funny thing is, just last week, I found myself wondering, are those words actually IN the Bible; or is it just us paraphrasing?

There are plenty of examples of God giving and taking things away. The Israelites are given freedom from slavery in Egypt. And then the sight of the Promised Land is taken away from an entire generation and they wonder the desert for forty years. God took Lazarus of Bethany away from his sisters. Then gave him back (from the dead!) four days later. For Esther, He took both her parents away, yet gave her the title of queen and the courage to keep her uncle and people from being slaughtered!

The list goes on, illustrating the saying the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. I was satisfied with the evidence. Still though, the question nagged at me and I put it away to look into later.

Then this morning (the human mind's one-week equivalent of 'later') I broke into Job. And I read it in the first chapter;

'The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;' (v. 21 NIV)

THERE IT WAS! Once again, God's timing reigns supreme! But what caught my attention even more was the fact that Job didn't stop speaking there. The whole twenty-first verse is:

'The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;

may the name of the Lord be praised.'

Interesting. We've taken the liberty of quoting an important aspect of our Savior. But we've left out the part about how we ought to respond to it. Remember, Job's first test had already passed when he said this. His herds had been taken, his servants slaughtered, and all of his children dead. And ALL this travesty was dished out to him in the same FIVE minutes!

What would you do? You'd probably shrug off the animals, feel sadness for the servants, but YOUR CHILDREN!!!???!!! Job responds with torn clothes and moaning (and much more moaning later on), but these are among the first words out of his mouth:

"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;

may the name of the Lord be praised."

In a place where it's too easy to fall into self-pity, Job reminds himself of who he serves and how he should serve him, even now. 

It's important to quote the Bible, to 'always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.' (1 Peter 3:15) But if we're going to do so, let's concentrate on the WHOLE message that's being given, not a mere PART of it. 

Nobody likes anything half-baked or half-hearted. We shouldn't settle for an eternal message being half-quoted.