Kenneth Samuel: All of My Needs, Already Supplied
"The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing." - Psalm 23:1 (NIV)
You've probably heard it said that you should never go to the grocery store when you're hungry, because if you do you'll end up buying a whole lot of things that look good to you, but that you really don't need.
The best way to approach the grocery store and the best way to approach life is with an attitude of grateful sufficiency-a conscientious awareness that God has already supplied all that we need.
This consciousness gives us the blessed ability to be discerning instead of desperate when it comes to making choices in life.
Some would argue that the attitude of grateful sufficiency serves as a disincentive to greater progress and acquisition in life. But I don't see it that way.
Within the purviews of what God has ready given us, we already possess tremendous opportunities and potential to grow and to develop far beyond the limits our current capacities.
Sometimes our best growth is not found in acquiring things we don't have, but becoming better managers and cultivators of what we already possess.
When we profess God to be our Shepherd it is inconsistent and contradictory to follow that profession with actions and attitudes of desperation and lack. David said: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing."
When we were very young, my mother would counsel my brother and me before we went to visit relatives and friends. She would say to us, "I work hard to provide for you, and we have enough food to eat in our own house. So do not embarrass me by going to somebody else's house and acting like you're starving."
The Lord is our Shepherd. We're not acting like we're starving . . . . Are we?
Prayer
God, today we are grateful for your All Sufficient Grace. Amen.