More than a year ago, at a Bible study, I was asked a question “Do you believe that God is a giver or a taker?” Yah. You think it’s a simple question with a simple answer. Well it’s not. And you figure that out the moment that something goes wrong in your life, and you’re crying out to God for “taking” something or someone out of your life. My thoughts and actions reflected that although I stated quite sunday-school-ly “well a giver of course!” that I thought he was a taker. It killed me to know that about myself. And today, as I was spending some time with Jesus, I found my true answer. True to form, I went for door number 3. He is neither a giver nor a taker. He is a replacer. When we make the decision to follow him truly, he replaces our old hearts with new. He replaces our evil lusts for his holy desires. He replaces our grieved spirits with fortified hearts. He replaces our shackles of fear with chains of righteousness.
Demolition is not a clean nor child-friendly process.
Sometimes he has to take a sledgehammer to that ugly, unmoveable fixture in our lives to replace it with something clean and simple. It is during these times of renovation that we sometimes mistake him for a taker. We lose ourselves in the process and forget to be patient for the results. We appear fickle because we cannot handle being patient. It’s a big lesson. But recognizing his goodness is the first step. Having faith that he knows what he’s doing is the next. And daily remembering his faithfulness is the last.
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