How many times have you found yourself thinking about something that you “need,” and the next thing you know, you are on your phone opening the Amazon app and searching for that item? Then about a few hundred options are there in front of you to look at and you start to feel a little overwhelmed. Some items have a couple thousand reviews and 4.5 stars and others have 31 reviews and 2 stars but yet the pictures look almost exactly the same. You start reading the reviews and looking at the pictures of the item that the customers have posted and you start to question if you really need that item anymore because you just don‘t know what to believe.
Maybe you purchased the item because you needed it but wound up only using it a couple times. Then you found out that you really had no interest in it anymore. So now it sits in your basement, waiting to be given away or thrown away the next time you clean your basement. But this item was something that you “needed,” right?
We live in a day and age where you can get almost anything you want delivered to your door in just a matter of a couple days, if not hours. While, yes, I absolutely love being able to order from my phone because I can find the items that I need quickly and have them come to my house so I don't even have to go to a store, I think it can set us up for impulse buying. If we’re not careful, this can quickly lead us into thinking that we are lacking. We “need” this item and if we could only purchase it, our lives would be so much better. Things would go so much easier if we only had the right tool or right item to do the job that we have to do.
As I was reading in my devotions today, I felt convicted about this way of thinking, “Oh I need this, or I need that.” I am reading through the Psalms as part of my devotional time and today I read through Psalm 23. How does it start out? “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” Now mind you, I have read/heard/listened to/studied/etc. Psalm 23, but it just hit me a little different today as I read that line, “I lack nothing.” In our culture, we do not usually say that we lack nothing. In fact, we lean on the other side and say "If only I had _________."
How do we lack nothing? I want to remind you that we have a God who wants to be our shepherd. We have to let Him. As we read the rest of the chapter, it lets us in on all the things that God does. He makes us, leads us, refreshes us, guides us, is with us, comforts us, prepares for us, anoints us. All of these things are possible when we take a step back and place God where He belongs.
I don't know about you, but if I am honest, some of these things I don't really like. Who really wants to be made to do anything? Ask me, and I will be much more willing. Tell me I have to do something and you might see some pushback. Lead me? Guide Me? Do I have to? Can’t I just do my own thing? Prepare a table in the presence of my enemies? How about you just destroy all my enemies and I eat with friends?
Here is the realization I came to. I absolutely can lead myself and do my own thing and never go around anyone I don’t like, but then I am choosing to listen to myself and not God. I am not truly being a follower or disciple of Jesus if I only do what I want to do. We are not called to this type of life, and if we are truly being honest, God wants what is best for us so we can “lack nothing.”
Our culture’s definition of “lack nothing” is more along the lines of “How much money is in your account? What vehicle do you drive? What does your house look like? How many followers do you have on social media?” God doesn’t use the same measurements. He knows what is truly best for us. As our shepherd, He wants to steer us in the right direction. If we continue to follow the ways of the world, He knows that it will lead to destruction and death. So sometimes, He has to make us. But if we look at what He makes us do, it is to lie down in green pastures. Sometimes we just have to stop and realize that God is in control and He has it. We can run around all we want, but He knows that we must stop, surrender control, and rely on Him to keep us safe and secure.
This is how we can be refreshed. Spending time with our shepherd, and not chasing after the next thing that we don’t really need. Be with Him and allow Him to refresh your soul. When you feel that you are in the presence of your enemies, you have nothing to fear, because He is with you. He hasn’t left you there alone. You lack nothing! You are not alone in this.
So I encourage you today to remind yourself that if the Lord is truly your shepherd, you lack nothing. Take some time to thank Him for leading, refreshing, guiding, and being with you. Thank Him for being everything that you need!
