If you look at my Target, Ulta, or Amazon wish list, this will be clear to you (if not a little embarrassing to me).
I go through my day thinking of things I want: more sleep, more tea or coffee (or another Moka pot of coffee, which is my new favorite thing), more couch time, more TV time, more cleaning time. Okay maybe not so much that last one. But you get the idea. More time.
As I was craving more sleep time (which I'm still kinda blaming on jet lag to alleviate the guilt of sleeping my only free day away...), I found this on Instagram.
This is a familiar verse. I learned it in pre-school. It is often quoted at funerals. I learned it "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." I grew up and learned that "want" meant more than just "desiring things," which I think was hard for me as a child. The Bible says I shall not want! Here it could also mean "I lack nothing," which is also a little hard to process. Today, the translation caught me off guard. I have what I need.
I'm not sure how many times I've looked back on a day and said, "I had everything I needed today." If I had to guess, I'd say never. Don't we always want more out of a day? But this verse, with beauty and simplicity, says that with God as my shepherd, I have what I need. Excuse the short grammar lesson here, but the semicolon that connects these two phrases tells us that they are closely related. They go together. If, then. If God is my shepherd, then I have what I need.
Like I mentioned, I'm a little jet lagged. Traveling all the way to New Zealand and back will do that to you, I guess. Since I've been back, I've been thinking a lot about what I have and what I don't have. I have a place to live and closets full of clothes. After living out of a carry-on suitcase for two weeks, I feel overwhelmed with clothing choices. (Is that going to stop me from going shopping today? It is not.) I have a job. Actually, I have two jobs. I have good friends and family (and friends who are like family).
But even in all that, there are still things I feel I want. And in the same way that I feel overwhelmed with my clothing choices now that I'm back, the wants of my heart started to overwhelm my mind.
So this morning, reading that in God I have all that I need, my heart could finally rest. It's okay to have wants and desires, I know this. It says in Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." The New Testament tells us that our Heavenly Father gives good gifts to those who ask (Matthew 7:11).
I won't stop asking. I won't stop chasing after God, delighting in the things he has already given me.
But today?
Today He is my shepherd; I have everything I need.
Posts
