Give and Take Away

You give and take away,
You give and take away,
my heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name…

We spent some time last night talking about what it means to bless His name even when things are taken away.  We say it all the time and it sounds like such a great idea, but when it comes down to it….we don’t.  We don’t praise Him when He takes away.  We sit and complain.

I learned a big lesson in praising Him when He takes away this week.

Due to some health concerns, I was about to forfeit my trip to London.  I’d already put money into the trip and I was excited to go and see a new country.  I was excited to be able to communicate with the people around me!  I was excited.

And then I got sick.  I knew I had to get to the doctor.  I had two choices.  (1) Miss out on London and go to the doctor on Monday, or (2) go to the doctor on November 4th.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to wait until Novembe so, after countless tears and a lot of frustration, I gave up the idea of going on London.  For once I made a logical choice and let go of something that I desperately wanted to do in order to actually take care of myself.

He took away.  I got so angry with Him.  Sure, taking away my trip to London wasn’t the biggest thing in the world, but it hurt.  I got to the point where I was broken enough that all I could do was praise Him.  I knew that He knew what He was doing.  I decided to trust that He knew that I wasn’t going to be going on this trip.  He knew I would get sick.  He was doing this for a reason.

And then today….He worked and incredible work.  I got to the doctor, got drugs, and I get to go to London.  When I finally surrendered to Him and trusted in His plan….He gave me the desire of my heart.

God is so good.  He gives and takes away and I will praise Him still.

~ by dailysurrenderings on October 17, 2008.