Psalm 23:1
The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need.
Last week, I was with a couple of friends, sitting outside on that beautiful 74 degree November day, meditating on John 10:1-10 together. That is the passage where Jesus says, “I am the gate.”
It is a beautiful passage with very deep meaning, yet I drifted into La La Land as I sat back and looked up at the sky. I noticed the tree tops against the rich blue background swaying peacefully in the gentle breeze. And I became overwhelmed with a sense of God’s goodness and providence.
Do you ever have those moments when you stop, or are stopped, and it just hits you? The overwhelming reality of God?
This was one of those moments.
I’m looking at these trees and sky and realizing, “God made a beautiful world.” Everything He made is so good, and is a wonderful, gracious gift. Including the gift of our very lives. It is we who mess it up. It is on us when we do not enjoy what He has given, because we fail to love Him sincerely with our whole heart or we succeed at wronging our fellow human. We are unhappiest when we do not live according to God’s ways set out for us.
And this led me to, “We have everything we need.” I felt such peace and contentedness, seeing clearly what is real, what is true–we have everything we need at very moment.
Think about it. At any point of my day, I can ask myself, “What do I need right now that I do not have?” At any point when I’m feeling down, frustrated, angry, etc., I can stop, breathe, and ask myself, “What do I need right now to be happy?” If I’m honest with myself, the answer is “Nothing. You have all you need already.”
A few weeks back, sitting in the quiet, I heard Jesus say to me, “You have everything you need at every moment because you have Me.”
The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
So lately, I’ve been taking my thoughts captive whenever they start to wander somewhere unhealthy, and asking myself, “What do I need right now?” Or as a successful rugby coach trained his players to “W.I.N.” all the time, he had them stop and ask “What’s Important Now?” What do I most need to be doing (or thinking) right now? This keeps you in the NOW, as well as focused upon what is most important within it.
I think part of maturing is needing less and less in your day to go your way in order to have a good day. If we are constantly frustrated with things not going as we’d like, we are being like a child aren’t we? Isn’t this how children behave? Throwing a fit because something didn’t go as they wanted?
We have been given the gift of free will and power over our thoughts, but it must be exercised. You can stop and take your thoughts captive at any moment. It may take some practice due to old habits and conditioning, but it can be done. Everyday can be seen and experienced as gift….if you so choose.