The lack thereof

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.” Psalm 23:1 NIV

Ever heard someone use the phrase “or the lack thereof”? It is usually related to the presence or absence of something like checking for the presence or absence of damage after a storm. I have been thinking about this quite a bit today. Usually, I have some idea how to pull thoughts out of my heart and put them on paper. Today I have coincidently been struggling with it, but I’ll give it a shot.

I think that my prayer life is at times focused on the wrong perspective. I pray for things. I try to listen for guidance from God. But even that is usually based on the want for something that I either do not have or do not have it to the extent I think I should have. I do not think praying for things is bad, totally normal. However, if I examine my life from that perspective alone, God has taught me a lot more through the lack of something than the provision of something.

It sounds weird but I pray for windows to open. If I want to have a conversation with someone about something specific, I will pray for that window to open. Same with nearly anything, if I ask God for the window to open, I am usually looking for it. That is a good thing for me because I have to be spiritually minded to look for it. This can make a regular habit of looking for and waiting on God. It not a perfect system, but it helps me.

As I have grown older, I realize that the longer I look for that window, the more I am looking for God and how He is working in an area or how He wants me to proceed with something. At times the window I am looking for opens. However, many times the window never opens, never appears and I wait. This usually causes more conversation with myself and with God. I am not always patient with God. I think He must be a little amused at that, but I still do it.

So here is my thought, if windows open every time I ask or if they open too fast, I can turn God into a sort of vending machine. Fast results do not produce deeper searching. If I spend a considerable amount of time looking for Him with no result or clear path, I keep looking, keep asking, keep waiting. It is God after all, He is allowed to make me wait or to tell me no.

So then consider the verse and the words “I shall not be in want”. What in the world does that mean and why do I always want, even though I look at God as my shepherd? The commentary in my bible compares God to a shepherd who guides a flock to drink when they need it, to shelter when they need it, away from danger even when they do not recognize it. “In want” is not a condition if the sheep trust the shepherd. I may not have everything I want but I have absolutely everything I need, one thing at a time.

Sheep are not the smartest animal God created, but we are not literally sheep. We can be obedient followers. We can be wise enough to follow the One who has been leading us our entire lives. When I get it right, I am not looking at the grass to eat or the water to drink, I am looking at the Shepherd.

I look at Him more intensely when I do not have such things as shelter or food or enough money or enough time or whatever thing I think I lack or am worried about. That can often be why He makes me wait for them. It makes me look at Him. I pay attention when I am “in lack” of something. He may know it is coming right around the corner. He is not rattled.

He may know I might drown in the deep water of a thing I desire, so He guides me around it. He may know the thing I want may be the very thing that will distract me from watching Him. An example of this may be something like a job promotion. That can be a great gift from Him, but it can also come with more expectations and demands that pull me away from the very thing I need most, Him.

What do you ask God for the most often?

How long have you been waiting?

Challenge: There are a lot of things we may lack. Some things may be the extra’s in life - new car, more free time, etc. Some lack’s are more serious – health issues, a job, for example. It’s okay to want things, but let the shepherd be the Shepherd. Keep in mind that the lack you may see in life may have far more value than we can imagine.

Rick Claiborn