When God takes something from your grasp He is not punishing you but merely opening your hands to receive something better.
My first question was, "Are you wanting to take something from me, Lord?" My next thought was, "Wow! I hope if God is trying to take something from me that I am not holding onto it too tightly. In Scripture Job tells us:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return
there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken
away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." Job 1:21
Job is a tremendous example of "having it all" so to speak and then having nothing. Through reading his experiences I am struck with Job's perspective. He knows his life was built by God and it was also dismantled by God. He attributes everything to the LORD and not to himself. Hmmm, that suggests Job saw his life as belonging to God. It was not his own.
I am also struck by Job's positive attitude. If anyone would be tempted to blame God or to say he was being punished by God, I think it could be Job. But Job does not see it that way. Certainly Job had dark days of despair as he walked through difficulties, but Job maintained a God-centered perspective and attitude as well as an an open hand. In fact, the final verse of Chapter 1 says:
"Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God."
Wow! That pretty well sums it up doesn't it? Job did not see himself as a victim.
Is God trying to take something from you? It could be a relationship, a possession, a job, any number of things. If so, is He having to pry it out of your tight fingers, or are you open handed before Him giving it back knowing it was first given to you by Him?
Let me encourage you to hold onto earthly things loosely. Scripture also tells us:
"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal" Matthew 6:20"
Job's ultimate treasures were stored up in heaven. Where are your treasures stored?
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