Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Lacking Nothing

"Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell" (Nehemiah 9:21).

This astounding account of the mercy and patience of God (please go back and read starting in verse 17!) ends with a startling line: They lacked nothing. 

Really?

From my perspective--and, I imagine, from theirs--they lacked an awful lot. Permanent, safe, settled homes in the Promised Land, for one (have you ever felt tired of living out of a suitcase? try wandering from place to place for forty years). Variety and interest in their diet (mmm...manna again). Loved ones: remember, during this period an entire generation of people were dying off. Don't let it remain abstract; picture every person in your extended family over age 40. Gone. These are not small things! I'd hardly describe this as "lacking nothing"!

And yet that's exactly how God describes it. And since His Word is Truth, His thoughts higher than mine, His wisdom perfect...I have to believe what He says is reality, rather than trust my own limited and skewed perception of reality.

He says they lacked NOTHING. They may not have had everything they wanted--but they had absolutely everything they needed, everything that was good for them.

If this was true then, before Christ--how much more can I trust this reality on this side of the cross?

I lack nothing. God has provided for my greatest, most profound need: He granted me a Savior. He has given me forgiveness for sins, a perfect record of obedience, a secure position as His beloved child, an eternal inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--all of this at immeasurable cost to Himself. If He provided for this need, the need to be set free from sin and reconciled to my Creator and King, how much more can I trust that He will surely provide any other thing I truly need? "He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).

He says I lack NOTHING. I may not have everything I want--but I have absolutely everything I need, everything that is best for me.

No comments: