"The Lord Gives and the Lord Takes Away"

Job 1:21) And he said: "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."
Yesterday the truth of Job 1:21, became a reality to me as I saw first hand the work of God in utter destruction of my hometown of Phil Campbell, AL. This small, quiet, rural town was devastated by a tornado which had winds upward to 175 mph. A town known for its southern hospitality and also of its community college is now known for the devastation of loss of homes, schools, and sadly lives.
After receiving a text message from my mother Wednesday evening stating she was alright but, "it" (the tornado) had hit close to her home, I felt compelled to do something. My family and I first responded in prayer to the Lord for these people. The people in which I grew up with, the people who knew me you by name, these people who worked to make a home and a living for themselves. Wednesday night I could hardly sleep. I was still getting text messages from my mother of the destruction and the lives of those who had been lost. So, Thursday morning I prayed and felt the leading of the Lord for me to make an effort to help the town where I grew up.
So we (my family and I) headed out to Alabama with a trailer load of water, food, toiletries, and clothing. Yesterday morning I really was not expecting to see what I saw. I had seen pictures (on internet) of my hometown but pictures could not hold a light to seeing with my own eyes. I saw pick up trucks turned upside down. I saw houses blown completely off their foundation. I saw foundations in which once stood houses and the house nowhere to be found. I saw ponds filled with peoples lives and also the place where two lives had been lost.
My wife and I road the county roads in East Franklin just passing out water and gospel tracts to people who were working trying to salvage what was left of their lives. We spent time listening to people who tried to explain what happened on that afternoon. We cried with some, laughed with others, and gave hugs to those who just needed to know someone cared enough to be there. One couple in particular, we ran into early in the morning had lost their chicken farm and their home. I was honored to meet them. We gave them some relief supplies and most of all prayed with them. She said, "we have lost it all." But as a believer, I reminded her she had indeed not lost it all. As a believer in Jesus Christ the great possession she had been given was her faith in a God who loves her and cares for her.
I could write I guess a small book in what I witnessed in just a 10 hour period. Most of all, what I was reminded yesterday is that "God gives and God takes away." And no matter what we should praise His name from whom all blessings flow. The Lord makes it rain on the just and the unjust. Paul said, "what do you have that you did not receive." Everything these people had and everything I have, God by His grace entrusted to us. It is the sovereign will of God to give and to take away. I pray through this devastation peoples eyes would be opened and would seek the Lord for the great possession. One thing I take away from yesterdays time with the people of my hometown is, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Do not become too comfortable with earthly possessions but rather trust in the possession which can not be taken away. Eternal life with Christ!