So here is my small goal: to write one "devotional" each Monday. I'll call these "redeeming Mondays." Sometimes I'm tired when Monday rolls around, and I want to give myself something to really press into and look forward to. So with no real system in mind, the plan is simply to start by writing short devotionals on some of my beloved, very favorite passages of Scripture. I NEED to process and dig in to Scripture for my own walk with Jesus, and I believe that it is not outside of the realm of possibility that each weekly Scripture might bless, challenge, or encourage someone else.
Week 1 {Psalm 34:8-10}
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
I'm not opposed to new year's resolutions and goals; Michael and I have several that we're praying through and working toward in the coming year. But sometimes, for me, the temptation is to get so wrapped up in the goals and the "what I don't have yet," that I forget the "what is." I'm not wrapped up ENOUGH in the "what I have," in the "who I already am." Not in a selfish way. Rather, in a grateful, contented way. There is SO much to look forward to in this life, yet there is SO MUCH GOOD TODAY. I am challenging myself to remember that, while Jesus is daily transforming me and helping me become the version of myself HE desires me to be, He has placed HIS goodness and gifts in and around me this very day.
In the midst of all that I'm looking to, dreaming about, praying about - in my marriage, my ministry, my plans - I WANT to remember that, in my seeking Jesus, "I lack no good thing." I have all I need for this very day, this very moment, as I LOOK TO HIM.
Seeking the Lord is the key to unlocking my understanding and belief that I HAVE EVERY GOOD THING. Does this mean that there is not more in store for my life than what I have right now? No. But it means that I can relish the fact that in tasting and seeing God's goodness, in fearing Him, and seeking Him, I get to live in the reality that I lack NO good thing.
Does this mean that my life is without disappointments or struggles either? No. I love how John Piper describes this tension: “Life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and troubled road. Switchback after switchback. And the point of biblical stories like Joseph and Job and Esther and Ruth is to help us feel in our bones (not just know in our heads) that God is for us in all these strange turns. God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ" (from his book A Sweet and Bitter Providence: Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God.)
It is IN JESUS that we have every good thing. This is not a hollow, cheap promise that "life" will give us every good thing. Let me be clear. It is in LOOKING TO THE LORD that we lack no good thing. Physically, emotionally, mentally, socially, financially, relationally, we may see evidences or traces of "lack" in the earthly sense. But the bigger picture here is that what is TRULY good, what we TRULY need, the Lord Himself, we have all of at all times.
The truth and reality is this:
"And God is ABLE to make ALL GRACE abound to you, so that having ALL SUFFICIENCY in ALL THINGS at ALL TIMES, you may abound in every good work."
{2 Corinthians 9:8, ESV}
Whatever it is that you're hoping for, dreaming of, striving for, praying for in this coming year, commit to remembering the truth and promise that in seeking the Lord, you lack no good thing. Let that reality transform the WAY you pray, the way you wait, and the way you hope. Praying Jesus transforms me in this.
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