He Gives and Takes Away.

Hebrews 10:9

Lexham English Bible (LEB)
then he has said,“Behold, I have come to do your will.”He takes away the first in order to establish the second,


I have a niece, who , it seems God has decided to take "every thing" from. I have told her, that like Job, God is going to test her, but then will replace everything. I came across this scripture this morning, and wow, did it " hit home. ".......He takes away the first in order to establish the second" I always thought this was in reference to the first covenant vs. Jesus accomplishment on the cross, ending the first, and establishing the second covenant. I had never thought of it in " everyday going through life" terms.

How can God give you something fantastic, from His will, if you already have something there in it's place? How can He give you that wonderful job, that you will love, when you have that job that you hate? (Please don't go out and quit your job, and say God will give me the dream job, now, He does it in His plan, not ours). When God takes something away from us, it is because He has something so far better then we can imagine in mind to replace it with. We, as humans, want so often to "settle" for OK, when God has "Fantastic, Wonderful, beyond our thinking, over the top, more then we could ever think or imagine, the triple play, the 100 yard bomb for a game winning touchdown, you see where I am going, things for us.

We cry and plead to God. "Why, Lord did you take that away from me?" " I want it back, it was so comfortable, it was what I wanted, and you took it from me." "OK, Lord , I will trust you, what's next?" If we really trusted Him, we would be excited He took away what we thought we loved, because He ALWAYS replaces it with what we need. Ever prayed to win the Publishers Clearing House? Did you win? Or, did God just supply your daily needs, and a few of your wants? Has God in your life, like mine, ALWAYS come through? You pray for a need, and He meets it? You pray for a desire and He meets it? You pray for a selfish THING and He denies it? I heard a story one time about a young lady who wanted a 8 track player really bad, yeah, I know it is a old story, I mean an 8 track? But she saved her money from babysitting for a 8 track for months, and then had enough. She was going to buy it on Monday morning. But at church on Sunday, a missionary was there. She ended up putting her money for the 8 track in the offering to support him. Then she started saving again, this same thing happened 2 more times, always giving her money to help in some way. She began to realize helping the Lost was much more important then an 8 track player. A few months later, she was the winner in a drawing she had entered months before and totally forgot about. The prize? A much more expensive 8 track player then she could have ever afforded. See, she did what the Lord was telling her to do, and THEN God rewarded her with her desires.


Have you ever wondered why God did not allow you to get that job, you know the perfect job, the one you applied for, interviewed for, the one you knew you had? That job, that paid much more then you were making now? The one with all the responsibility, the one with benefits, stock options................You just knew you would get, the interviews went so well, everyone acted like you already worked there. What happened? Have you ever thought maybe God had other plans for you? Maybe less pay, less benefits, no stock options, fewer responsibilities, more time with your family, no travel. Maybe the job you have now has a purpose. A purpose to talk to your co workers about the Lord, a purpose to be an example, not just talk to them. A purpose to nurture and raise you children, love your wife, be in Church every Sunday. Yeah, the money would have been nice,but who do we trust? Money, fame, fortune, talent, or God? Money is nice, but leaves us wanting more, always wanting more, fame is over rated, fortune comes with many challenges,talent comes from God in the first place, but what does God provide? Everything we need, and more.

If you feel like my niece, that God is taking everything from you, thank about what He will replace those things with. He never flies coach, He will always give us the best He has to offer. All we have to do is trust. That's all He asks us for, our trust. "Yeah, that's EASY', you may be thinking, but your right, it is IF we have our eyes on Him. As a child, holding onto our fathers hand as we cross a very busy street, complete trust, no worry, be happy.

God closes doors, takes things away from us, for a reason. He is NOT trying to punish us, He is trying to cause us to grow. He has such great things in store, we will be amazed.