I recently heard a man say that he dealt with life throughout the day by reciting Psalm 23. He said it was the best antidepressant he had found. I think if it had been anyone other than Mike Wells’ old mentor from India, I might have ignored this because so many formulas have been thrown at us they sound hollow. But this wasn’t a formula to him—it was a way of refocusing. So, I tried it.
I got through “The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing.” And that was as far as I made it. Those simple statements raced through me like a bolt of lightning. They speak of such care and tenderness to me. The second part can be translated “I will have more than enough” as well. Both speak to an intimate knowledge of what I need. How can someone promise that I won’t lack if they don’t know what I need?
We won’t lack for anything because we have Jesus’ Life. In Jesus’ Life, we have everything we need. We have been made complete! We are no longer under condemnation! We are being transformed by the renewing of our minds! We are lacking nothing.
And yet, I think I need stuff all day long. I have lists and lists of things that I wish I could do, or buy or give. But do I lack for anything really?
There are people in countries who are suffering—really suffering. They are starving, exposed to the elements with no shelter and beset upon by all manner of evil. What about them? Do they lack? I would suggest that even in the worst that man can do to itself, God provides what we need. Sometimes that isn’t in the way we wish. We don’t get the food, the cancer healing, the job, the house or the healing of relationship that we want.
But can you stand in that suffering and still see that you lack nothing? This requires a trust in a Shepherd who knows what we need and provides it. This allows us to say with Paul (who had been through significant suffering in his life) we are content in all circumstances. This isn’t because we are happy with all the things going on around, but because we can move to a different perspective and see God in all things.
So, the Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. Thank you, Jesus.
Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13