Why I Praise God for Taking Things Away
This morning, I was reading Isaiah 19.
Given everything that has been going on lately, I have been having a bit more difficulty focusing on my Scripture reading each morning I have been slower-moving and have had to read the text over and over again in order to process what is being said. The majority of this chapter (v.1-15) contains a prophecy against the land of Egypt, wherein God promises judgment for their sin; however, the conclusion of the chapter (v.16-25) contains a sudden shift, wherein God speaks of the people of Egypt turning to God and, in a shocking twist of events, describes Israel, Egypt, and Assyria as living in peaceful unity with one another. What a twist!
If this doesn’t mean anything to you, allow me to explain: Perhaps the most popular event of Jewish history is that of the Exodus from Egypt, wherein the Israelite nation was delivered after 400 years of slavery unto the Egyptians. At the time of Isaiah’s writing, Assyria is the #1 force attacking the people of Israel.
In other words, Isaiah prophesies that Israel will one day dwell in unity with their past and future oppressors. To make matters even more extreme, this is what God says: “Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance” (v.25). These are the very people who oppressed his holy nation, yet He calls them My people and the work of My hands! It is a remarkable act of grace and forgiveness that should leave all of us basking in the glory of our wondrous God.
Yet as I pointed out, the chapter began as a chapter of judgment. What began as judgment ended in redemption. What began as desolation ended in restoration. What began as desecration ended in salvation.
This left me asking a single question: What changed?
The answer has helped minister to me greatly this morning, as I hope it will to you as well.
The Turning Point
Isaiah 19 begins with God promising Egypt a whole lot of hurt. They will be handed over to civil war and tyrannical leadership (v.1-4), famine and poverty and a wrecked economy (v.5-10), and foolish leaders claiming to provide wise counsel (v.11-15). In short, all the things they once possessed and held so firmly too will be taken away from them, and they will be brought to nothing, laid to waste. Yet it is in the midst of this poverty—in the midst of this distress and socio-political upheaval—that we read, “In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that…swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts” (v.18).
It is the Lord who afflicts them, yet it is to the Lord to whom they turn. We further read that “In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border…When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, He will send them a Savior and Defender, and deliver them” (v.19-20). Everything they had has been taken away by the Lord, yet to the Lord they turn, to the Lord they cry, and by the Lord they are saved.
What changed? Where is the turning point? Where’s the shift?
Here’s a truth of which I am confident: When everyone is forced to their knees and all things fail them, all they have left to do is lay their eyes on the One who is still standing, the One who reigns supreme. It is true that oftentimes we have to be stripped of what we value most dearly in order to properly discern what we ought to value most. In this instance, Egypt has been brought to nothing, but it has found everything. It has lost everything it once had, only to see that it lost nothing of value, for the one thing it needed it did not have, and all that it had were things unneeded.
You see, man can rely and become dependent on man, on relations, on strength, and on power, but when each of these things are removed, at long last he will see that the one thing he truly needed was God all along. While Egypt thrived, it thought it was hot stuff—they oppressed who they wanted to oppress, touted their power over those who were beneath them, and puffed up in pride at all their accomplishments. They lived lavishly, enjoyed luxury, and partook in plenty of things they didn’t need. But now, everything has been taken from them: Their economy has collapsed, the Nile has dried, and their leadership can’t be trusted. Where, then, shall they turn?
When all things are changing, we must turn to the one thing that shall never change.
The God Who Takes Away
You see, this prophecy against Egypt is but a case study in affliction. Just as Egypt had to be stripped of everything in order to turn back to God, so it is often the case that man must be stripped of the things he doesn’t need in order to turn his priorities to the things that truly matter.
God, by His grace, has given us many things, but as sinful people, we often take these gifts for granted, and rather than allowing them to point us to the Giver who gave them, we begin to idolize the gifts and hold them with clenched fists as if we were entitled to them. By taking things away from us, then, God not only reminds us who is in charge (HINT: It’s not us), but He also graciously sobers our minds and helps us reengage our focus onto Him. By taking away the things we thought were ours to own, He directs our focus to the things that last forever. By taking away the things that distract us from Him, He graciously makes it easier for us to set our eyes on the one to whom we should have been focused all along. And so with joy we can thank God for taking things away from us, because in taking things away from us—even those things we want and may feel that we need—He draws us ever nearer to the all-consuming truth that He is the only thing we need.
These things on earth come and go, but His love remains. Egypt may lose all they had, but when you have nothing, you are forced into the position wherein you are forced to decide the one thing you truly need. And that is God. He is all we need.
The Rod of the Shepherd
If I am being honest with myself, I think I held my father with a “closed-fist” mentality. I was always starkly aware of the fact that some day he would pass away—and, in fact, my early college years I was terrified of this, especially after my cross country coach died my senior year of high school—but as time passed, I think what I knew and what I felt were two very different things. I knew my dad would some day die, but in a way I never felt the truth of that reality. At times I did, but the greater majority of the time, I took his presence for granted. Especially with this Coronavirus stuff going on, I was spending most of every day with him, and with each day that came, the day that followed seemed to be a certainty. Egypt had their power, and I had my dad: Things we knew could be taken away, but things we never imagined actually being taken away.
But now, my father is gone. Just as Egypt was stripped of all the things on which it so firmly relied, so I have been stripped of my father, and daily I am seeing how much I relied on him without even realizing it. Everything in my life is changing. My life going forward will always be “Before May 8, 2020” and “After May 8, 2020.” Everything is changing, and rather than resisting that change, I realize that I need to embrace it and learn to adapt to it. The Lord has chosen to take things away from me; like the Egyptians, then, I have a choice to make. What shall be my response? There are four main takeaways:
Redirected Focus. As I said before, God’s taking away, just as His giving, is a gift of His grace. We might not always like it when God takes something away from us, but firstly we have to remember that these things were never ours to begin with: He is the one who gave them, and so He is entitled to take them away. They were always His possession, given to us on loan for our enjoyment and growth. Secondly—and perhaps even more importantly—we need to remember that His taking things away form us aids us by stealing away distractions that could turn our focus away from Him. In the ways that I once relied on my earthly father, now I must rely on my heavenly Father, knowing Him to be the father to the fatherless. Where I once rested in the security of my relationship with my dad, I am now reminded that life is fleeting and that man cannot fulfill for us the needs that only God Himself can fulfill. Man passes away; God does not pass away.
Shifted Priorities. Before my father’s passing, I was saving up money to buy a paddleboard. I had been really, really wanting one, and he had been helping me research to find a good, cheap, used one to go and buy. Now, however, that simply isn’t at the top of my priorities. With my dad being gone, I have more responsibilities, and with those responsibilities comes a major shift in where I place my money. But this is a general truth that arises when things are taken away from us: It makes us turn out attention to what truly matters. While my dad was alive, acquiring a paddleboard seemed important to me; now that he’s gone, I see that, while desirable, it isn’t nearly as important as I had at once thought. My #1 priority is where it should always be and should have always been: Ministering to people for the glory of God, drawing them to rest in the abundance of His grace.
Growth in Gratitude. It is often said that you never know how much you love or appreciate something until it is taken away from you. Thankfully, I think that even during my dad’s life I was extremely grateful for him, and I am grateful also for the fact that I expressed that gratitude to him during his time alive. However, his passing has helped me recognize other things for which I might have been ungrateful, and in truth has made me appreciate smaller things all the more. I have always been a thoughtful and pensive person, but now I find myself being thoughtful and pensive in different ways. I go on walks and just appreciate the beauty of God’s creation. I hold conversations with my friends and cling to every word they say, recognizing that you never know when your last conversation with someone will be. I am naturally more introverted, and socializing has always been a great task for me, but now I find myself appreciating socializing—not because it has become any less taxing on me, but because I have become more grateful for the opportunity to be surrounded by so many people with whom I can interact. My father’s death has made me more grateful for life, and it has made me value each person, each sunset, each gust of wind in a new way. God has taken something important from me, but in doing so He has given me something important to Him: gratitude. He has taken, but He has given in excess. This is the grace of God.
Renewed Worship. When the Egyptians were brought to nothing, they turned to God. In the confusing of a changing world, the only thing they could do was cry to the One who never changes. So, too, shall I. My life is changing all around me and I have no idea was the future holds in store; the only thing I know to do is to turn to the unchanging God who does know what the future holds in store, and I shall simply live by faith, trusting that He will guide me according to His perfect and sovereign will. He is my Shepherd; how can I be in want? He makes me lie down on the greenest of pastures and leads me beside the stillest of waters and guides me along paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. I don’t need to see the path ahead; I merely need to keep my eyes trained on the feet of my Shepherd. Indeed, right now I find myself deep in the Valley of the Shadow of Death—oh how dark and deep and mysterious is that valley—but I fear no evil, for my Shepherd is with me. His rod and His staff comfort me. He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies, granting me a peace and a joy amidst my grieving that leaves people perplexed; yet I boast not in myself, but in my God. He anoints my head with oil, reminding me that I am His and that I have hope in Him. My cup overflows; I am emptied of these earthly possessions, yet I am filled with His love, His peace, His joy. Indeed, because His goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the days of my life, I shall worship Him for each of those days.
Conclusion
By grace the Lord gives, and by grace the Lord takes. Shall we accept His giving but not His taking, when we know it was grace that motivated both, and when we know with certainty that God is still good and sovereign? Rather, we rejoice in having even the things we held dearest taken away from us, for in having these taken away from us, we learn to hold God more dearly. He takes things away, but the things He gives are ever in excess of what has been taken away, so long as we respond with sober faith and a submitted heart. He empties us of what we don’t need so that he can overflow us with His grace. He has taken my father from me, but He has redirected my focus, shifted my priorities, grown my gratitude, and renewed my worship. As the Egyptians, I have been brought to nothing, but in being brought to nothing I have found everything. Oh my friends, this is why I praise God for taking things away.
