The Lord Gives and the Lord Takes Away
Something I think of often on the homestead is “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.” There’s constantly new life- whether that life is hatched out, or purchased at Rural King. But there’s constantly death, too- predators, sickness, you name it.
That verse has a whole new meaning now. This past fall, my husband and I experienced the best kind of new life. The Lord gave us a baby! With that came fatigue, a lack of posting, and NO motivation to make everyone’s favorite oatmeal cream pies or sourdough. But we found out at the end of October that we lost that baby. This has been the heaviest loss we’ve ever experienced.
The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. But the verse doesn’t end there. Job goes on to say immediately after, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
The Lord GIVES and the Lord takes away. All good and perfect things are a gift from the Lord, and we know that He is so excited to gift us more babies in the future!
The best advice I’ve ever heard a pastor say was, “I never ask God why something bad happens because I know I deserve hell anyway.” Doesn’t that rock your world? I used to wonder “Did satan cause this bad thing? Did the Lord cause this bad thing? Why did this happen?” But that advice completely shifted my perspective. We may never know why this happened, but in all of my past sufferings I’ve learned I don’t have to know why. I know that the Lord is good in all circumstances, the Lord has a purpose from the pain, and that ultimately this life is not about my comfort, but about my holiness and becoming more like Jesus. With that, comes a little bit of suffering, but it’s never in vain.
I truly don’t believe the Lord caused this loss, but here’s the thing… The Lord might have allowed this to happen. I love and trust the Lord so much that I know if He allowed this to happen- it’s for a reason (for my ultimate good, and for His glory.) It may not make sense to you to suffer greatly, but still have so much confidence in the Lord and I’d say if you are struggling with that, take a moment to REALLY get to know the Lord. He is the only one who will never leave you disappointed. He only has GOOD plans for You and He loves you so much!
With this, we will be closing the stand for the season. It just seems like a good time for this, especially with winter coming in. My hope is to reopen in spring with a new level of excitement and energy to do all of the baking, canning, and more that I have so enjoyed from this past year. I may post updates as I feel like it throughout the winter, but I’ll mostly use this season as a chance to bundle up and stay warm, knit some baby blankets for our future babies, and continue to focus on the goodness of the Lord in all seasons!