Given & Taken

Every good and perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,

who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17 NIV

http://bible.com/111/jas.1.17.niv

He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb,

and I will be naked when I leave.

The Lord gave me what I had,

and the Lord has taken it away.

Praise the name of the Lord!”

Job 1:21 NLT

http://bible.com/116/job.1.21.nlt

You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭119:68‬ ‭NIV‬‬

http://bible.com/111/psa.119.68.niv

Every good and perfect gift comes from above. It is true - God puts Good things in our hands. But, as Job tells us, He will also allow things to be removed from our hands. 

Do you hold something Good in your hands? Bless God for it. It is His Goodness toward you. Has something been removed from your hands? Then also bless God for it. It is equally His Goodness toward you. Only God sees the whole picture. Only He can see what is best for us to have and not to have. And so we trust Him - not just in the receiving, but also in the taking away. Removal of things in our lives is not His punishment toward us. It is His Goodness, yes, even His Mercy. 

Psalm 119 reassures us of this one thing: He is Good and only does Good - in the giving as well as in the taking away.