Thursday, March 26, 2020

Psalm 23:1

Psalm 23 
English Standard Version (ESV) 

 On day 4 (or is it 40?  How did Noah manage in that ark for so long?) of shelter-in-place, I can think of a number of things I want.  To spend time with friends, to go to the grocery store and not worry, to attend a baseball game.  In another week, I'll want a bigger house, I'm sure!
  I sometimes rush past this verse, anxious to get to the still waters or the part where my cup overflows.  But think for a second -- what would it be like to want for nothing?  To want for nothing is to be completely at peace, to have every single need and want fulfilled.  In today's world, we all long for health, for ourselves and our neighbors and our sisters and brothers around the world.  Before this, we longed for peace, for security, for joy.  Now we long for their to be enough ventilators and for a vaccine, and we long for rest for the medical professionals and delivery drivers and others who feel the full burden of this awful virus.
  The fullness of the Lord satisfies our every desire.  Living with Christ as shepherd, we are so filled, so sated, that we want for nothing.  We aren't looking around at what others have, and we aren't looking inward and feeling dissatisfied.  We want for nothing.  We are at peace.
  That's my prayer for each of you.  The full peace of God, filling every gap in your life to the point that you want for nothing, that your soul is at rest, and that we live and breathe the peace of God, spreading that to every corner of the world, that our joy may be complete.

No comments: