Learning When God Gives By Taking Away

When God gives by taking away, it’s not that He’s punishing us, but instead that He is preparing us. When we are given a gift, we open it and rejoice.  

We feel blessed, and we want to share our happiness with others. But what if the gift was too precious to open? What if it had been ruined by the light of day? Sometimes God gives us gifts that are too precious to open right away. They need time to grow and mature before they are ready for use.  

During this waiting time, they must be protected from the elements and kept safe from harm. If this is true of earthly gifts, how much more so must it be true of divine ones? God knows what He is doing when He takes things away from us—and it is often because He wants us to appreciate them when they come back into our lives again! 

When God gives, he gives abundantly. He doesn’t provide just a little bit and then takes some back. If he gave you a million dollars, he wouldn’t take it away from you because you bought a $500 car instead of a $15,000 one. But when God takes away, he takes away! And something about that idea feels like we’re missing out on something precious.