God is Our Ultimate Giver

I recently watched the movie “The Giver.” It came out in 2014, but I never sat down to experience it from start to finish. It’s about a futuristic society free of all the painful things humans face– death, war, crime, heartbreak, and tragedy. Emotions like envy, anxiety, and grief no longer exist. But by eliminating all of the sadness and suffering, all the beautiful, life-giving moments that make up our lives were eradicated along with the pain.

None of the emotions and feelings that add color to our stories were left–

Freedom. 

Hope. Joy. 

Amazement. Humor. 

The feeling of “home.”

Empathy. Love.

As I sat down to enjoy the movie, I started to imagine what it would be like to experience life for the first time again. It’s so easy to get caught up in the dance of the mundane that we rarely stop to stand in awe of the things that, at one point in time, had the power to take our breath away.

Imagine walking up to the ocean for the first time again—the sound of the waves crashing authoritatively yet harmoniously against the shore. As you stand barefoot at the sea’s edge, you become extraordinarily overwhelmed by the ocean’s vastness and enormity.

What if you could view the sunset like you’d never seen it? Hues of red and orange magnificently paint the sky as the last bits of daylight fill the empty spaces. The sun shares its final glow for the day and wraps the earth in a warm hug as it says goodnight.

Take yourself back to the first time you stood out in the snow– A blanket of cold, white crystals that fall to the earth and cover the dead ground of winter. As the snowflakes fall, you try to catch them with your tongue. They don’t taste like much, yet the game of catching fresh snowfall before it touches the ground is magical.

Do you remember the first time you took off in an airplane? Everything that was once at eye level transformed into a small city that could fit in your hand. As you ascended higher, your window was met with a perfect landscape of clouds resting peacefully around you– untouchable by the rest of the earth.

What about the day you were baptized into Christ? The cleansing power of Jesus’ blood washed over you– forgiving you of every sin and granting you an avenue to the Father in Heaven. As you emerged from the watery grave, you stood as a new creature with your identity established and rooted in the One who died for you.

There is so much beauty around us- sometimes, we may fail to appreciate its significance in the exact moment—the feeling of picking up a good book. Listening to a meaningful song. The warmth of the sun on our skin as we walk outside. Even though we can’t experience everything for the first time again, how we choose to share everyday moments can be life-giving if we let them.

There are still many chapters of firsts that my story hasn’t gotten to yet. Falling in love for the first time. Getting married. Expecting my first child. Watching my child take their first breath and seeing them grow up. Though I still have a lot of memories to make, I can imagine those who have lived through these milestones have timestamps on their hearts that can bring them back to each breathtaking moment.

I know these things give life its color, but what about the things in life that strip every shade of pigmentation? Loss of a job, illness, cancer, death of a loved one, loneliness, divorce, the power of sin. My life hasn’t been penetrated by darkness like some other people’s stories– so it’s hard for me to tell someone who has lived through shades of gray that the reds, yellows, and purples of life make it worth walking through the storms.

For this, I’d like to turn to the story of Job. As Christians, we know God is the ultimate Giver, but we also know He has just as much power to take away. We may never understand why God takes away what He does, but we can be confident that He’s still sovereign and good through it all.

After losing everything, Job still praised the Lord with reverence. He lost his family and material possessions in one fell swoop, yet he didn’t curse the Lord like Satan had predicted.

God’s track record of faithfulness was never compromised during Job’s trials. God’s love and trustworthiness have never been jeopardized or discredited in our lives today. Still, humans are quick to point the finger back at God when we identify unfairness or transgressions.

In the first chapter of Job, the grief-stricken story is laid out. After the tragic news was delivered to him, Job had every right to be upset with God. His entire life was unexpectedly flipped upside down by raids, fires, and great winds– leaving nothing but remnants and reminders of what Job once had been blessed with.

But the first words out of Job’s mouth weren’t intended to curse God. They were meant to praise Him.

Starting in verse 21, Job cries out:

“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.”

God is never wrong. And even though it might seem like that sometimes with our human lens, we can be comforted by God’s character and who He is according to His Word. In Psalms 18:30, “As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”

We have and are nothing without God. Despite what we might believe, our lives have never been ours, nor should we want them to be. Living for God anchors us to His steadfastness so that we can always praise and worship Him in the midst of whatever tragedy, trial, or inconvenience comes our way.

On days that feel like darkness is the only thing that exists, remember that the sun still rises.