The LORD Gave
“And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”Job 1:21 (KJV)
It is easy to say everything belongs to God when nothing is being taken. The real test comes when the business slows, the account shrinks or the plans fall through. Then we find out whether we were holding things as owners or as stewards.
Job lost more in one day than most people lose in a lifetime. His answer is one of the most stunning lines in Scripture: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
He could say that because he knew whose it all was. “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” If it was never ours, losing it doesn’t mean losing ourselves.
There is freedom in an open hand. When you stop guarding what was never the source of your security, you can be braver, more generous and more at peace, whether the season is full or empty.
Read it yourself
Read Job 1:20–22. What does verse 22 say Job did not do?
What are you holding so tightly that losing it would feel like losing yourself?
Lord, the earth is yours. You gave and you may take away. Blessed be your name either way. Amen.