We sang the song again at church today.....the one that used to make me cringe. (Sometimes, I admit, I still do cringe a little.) The song is "Blessed Be Your Name" by Matt Redman. The song talks about praising God when things are going well.....and continuing to praise Him when things aren't going so great. I love much of the song. It's got a great tune. I love what many of the words say.....and then.....there are those words that are difficult to sing sometimes....the ones that made me cringe.
In Job 1: 21,22 Job is speaking and he says, "....'Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.' In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong."
Job is speaking right after a time in his life when he lost many things and people. His servants were killed. His animals were lost. His sons and daughters passed away. And yet, Job still says, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." What faith. What a lesson for us.
....what a lesson for me.
Part of the song I'm speaking of says:
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your Name.
When I sang those words, I would think about all the things and people I loved that had been taken away from me. I had been through a rather difficult time in my life and singing those words were really something that was hard for me to do. One Sunday as we were singing it.....and I was cringing inside....God reminded me of something. Yes, He will allow us to lose things and loved ones at times....people die....situations change.....but that day, God reminded me that He also takes away the hurt and the brokenness and the pain we feel. Those things don't last forever.
Yes, there are sometimes very difficult things that we go through in life. We do need to choose to praise God no matter what is going on around us because He is good...He is worthy of praise....He is to be honored even in our brokenness. We don't praise God for the bad things that happen in our world; we praise Him for who He is.
I am to praise God when my world is sunny and everything is going along smoothly and wonderfully.....and I'm also to praise Him when things aren't going as great as I'd like them to be....for He is God. That day at church, He reminded me that He is with me through all of the painful situations I go through. And the pain won't last forever....He will take that away, too.
And for that, I'm very grateful.
"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord."
