Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord

There is a verse in the Old Testament that feels like my life verse at this moment. It is one that Job said when the Lord had allowed everything bad happen to Job. "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord."  Now you notice, I said that the Lord "allowed" things to happen? That is due to that fact that I firmly believe that as a child of God there is NOTHING that happens to me that He doesn't first filter through His sovereign hands before coming to me. And ALL of the things that come in to my life are going to somehow draw me closer to Him.

Lately I have been feeling a lot of the "takes away" part of that verse. I mean, he allowed my marriage and my kids to abandon me about four years ago. He has taken away my security in finances. Now I am having this surgery because a part of my body is no longer functioning, or needed, for that matter. It is being taken away as well. I have had friends filtered from my life and cars break down. Yes, there is a lot that has been taken away.

But I, like so many others in this world, seem to concentrate so much on the things that have been taken away that they fail to see what the Lord has given to them. Let me take the aforementioned subjects:  Yes, my marriage partner abandoned me, BUT I had twenty-three years with that man. That is a long marriage in this society. My kids abandoned me, but the Lord allowed me to have been their mother for a short while. The surgery? Well, I was able to bear two children and that is all the Lord had intended for me to "bear". The friends have been replaced with new friends and the car has always gotten fixed somehow to allow me to work. 

In addition, I have gained so much else - all things that the Lord has "given" me. I have a husband who loves me dearly and appreciates this new season in our lives, as we grow old together and learn more about life and each other. I have a step-son who needed me as much as I need him. He is a wonderful young man and I pray that the Lord will give me the wisdom to be what he needs. I am going to experience a new season in life as a fifty-plus woman who is comfortable in her own skin. I have a good boss who values and appreciates me as a friend and as an employee. I am truly blessed!

And if the Lord sees fit to take these away from me, as much as it will hurt me and cause conflict and stress, I will continue to wage the battle in my spirit to say with confidence. "the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, BLESSED be the name of the Lord!"