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TOPIC: MacDuff, John - The Rainbow in the Clouds (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 09. THE GIVER AND THE TAKER
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9. THE GIVER AND THE TAKER
"The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Job_1:21
Noble posture this; to kneel and to adore! To see no hand but ONE! Sabeans; Fire; Whirlwind; Sword; are all overlooked. The Patriarch recognizes alone "The Lord" who gave and "The Lord" who has taken. What is the cause of so much depression, needless sorrow, ungospel murmuring in our hours of trial? It was what Rutherford calls "our looking to the confused rollings of the wheels of second causes;" a refusal to rise to "the height of the great argument," and confidently to say, "The will of the Lord be done!" a refusal to hear His voice; His own loving voice, mingling with the accents of the rudest storm; "It is I!" "Is there evil in the city, and the Lord has not done it?" Is there a bitter drop in the cup, and the Lord has not mingled it? He loves His people too well to intrust their interest to any other. We are but clay in the hand of the Potter; vessels in the hand of the Refiner of silver. He metes out our portion. He appoints the bounds of our habitation. "The Lord God prepared the gourd." "The Lord God prepared the worm." He is the Author alike of mercies and sorrows, of comforts and crosses. He breathes into our nostrils the breath of life; and it is at His summons the spirit returns "to the God who gave it!"
Oh, that we would seek to regard our own lives and the lives of those dear to us as a loan. God, as the Great Proprietor, Who, when He sees fit, can revoke the grant or curtail the lease He gave! All mercies by Him bestowed; by Him continued; by Him withheld.
And how often does He take away, that He may Himself enter the vacuum of the heart and fill it with His own ineffable presence and love! No loss can compensate for the lack of Him, but He can compensate for all losses. Let us trust His love and faithfulness as a taking as well as a giving God. Often are Sense and Sight tempted to say, "Not so, Lord!" But Faith, resting on the promise, can exult in this Rainbow spanning the darkest cloud, "Even so, Father, for it seems good in your sight!"
"The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Job_1:21
Noble posture this; to kneel and to adore! To see no hand but ONE! Sabeans; Fire; Whirlwind; Sword; are all overlooked. The Patriarch recognizes alone "The Lord" who gave and "The Lord" who has taken. What is the cause of so much depression, needless sorrow, ungospel murmuring in our hours of trial? It was what Rutherford calls "our looking to the confused rollings of the wheels of second causes;" a refusal to rise to "the height of the great argument," and confidently to say, "The will of the Lord be done!" a refusal to hear His voice; His own loving voice, mingling with the accents of the rudest storm; "It is I!" "Is there evil in the city, and the Lord has not done it?" Is there a bitter drop in the cup, and the Lord has not mingled it? He loves His people too well to intrust their interest to any other. We are but clay in the hand of the Potter; vessels in the hand of the Refiner of silver. He metes out our portion. He appoints the bounds of our habitation. "The Lord God prepared the gourd." "The Lord God prepared the worm." He is the Author alike of mercies and sorrows, of comforts and crosses. He breathes into our nostrils the breath of life; and it is at His summons the spirit returns "to the God who gave it!"
Oh, that we would seek to regard our own lives and the lives of those dear to us as a loan. God, as the Great Proprietor, Who, when He sees fit, can revoke the grant or curtail the lease He gave! All mercies by Him bestowed; by Him continued; by Him withheld.
And how often does He take away, that He may Himself enter the vacuum of the heart and fill it with His own ineffable presence and love! No loss can compensate for the lack of Him, but He can compensate for all losses. Let us trust His love and faithfulness as a taking as well as a giving God. Often are Sense and Sight tempted to say, "Not so, Lord!" But Faith, resting on the promise, can exult in this Rainbow spanning the darkest cloud, "Even so, Father, for it seems good in your sight!"