All These Things
“Be content with what you have;
Rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
The whole world belongs to you.”
-Lao-Tzu
“The Lord is my shepherd,
I lack nothing.”
-Psalm 23:1
What a comfort to know He is the shepherd of my heart: I have everything I need in this moment, everything I need is in my “toolbox” to receive healing and wholeness for today. I lack nothing.
Wayne Muller writes that “Sabbath dissolves the artificial urgency of our days, because it liberates us from the need to be finished” (Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in our Busy Lives, p.83). In like manner, when I “sabbath my soul” amid a compressed day, in the middle of a mess, point-center in my disappointment, it liberates me from the urgent expectation that I need to resolve that which is unresolved. It means I can Be content, because this moment lacks nothing; I have everything I need to walk in peace right now. It is not up to me to clip every thread, unknot the tangled-up situations. Let loose ends stay loose. That is hard for a person who desires reconciliation in those unresolved areas of life. It is not to say we should not wish it; after all, Romans 12:8 urges us that “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” This, however, should not be at the expense of losing your own peace. “Let the work of this day be sufficient” (Matthew 6:34 paraphrase). So I whisper to my soul:
Trust in His grace for my now. Avoid picking up yesterday’s anxiety. Because it steals my joy for today, to carry the mantle of anxiety over yesterday would be futile. My concern should be whether I placed priority on Kingdom principles. In other words, did I “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” as Matthew 6:33 exhorts? If things fell apart in the doing of this, then let it be, and do not pick up a yoke of guilt or shame but instead give yourself permission to live in the present and trust Him with the outcome. This means that I also do not pick up the regrets of yesterday, the hurts that the enemy wants me to ruminate on, or the disappointments that corrupt how I filter life. My regrets, hurts, and disappointments can corrupt me with bitterness, and if that bitterness becomes so dear to me—if I can’t release it—I become my own greatest threat, because joy cannot thrive in that toxic environment. Conversely, where bitterness blocks joy, joy dispels bitterness.
I recently read a sobering article about David’s first wife, Michal, here. The author outlined some takeaways concerning the bitterness that defined Michal’s life from which we can learn. While she had good reason to be bitter, her bitterness kept her excluded from joy and healthy relationships. Her bitterness led her to despise other people’s joy and corrupted her filter for enjoying other relationships. This root of bitterness became so severe in Michal’s life that 2 Samuel 6:20 makes it sound like she scolded David before he was even able to get a blessing out of his mouth! Finally, not only did Michal’s bitterness rob her of blessing, but in her set of circumstances, her “bitterness became her barrenness.” She reminds me of the quarrelsome wife in Proverbs:
“A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day,
restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.”
--Proverbs 27:15-16
The degradation with which she met David certainly oozed with her bitter lot in life. To shut out taking part in the joy of others and shroud oneself with pity and bitterness is a tragic outcome, indeed! Instead of choosing contentment and rejoicing in the victories David had wrought, Michal could only ruminate on the past glories of her father, King Saul; she wallowed in her sorrow, allowed the bitterness to fester toward David, and she held onto hurts, stuck in the past, definitely not setting her heart on Kingdom principles or on things of eternal value. She refused to surrender to the sabbath of joy her soul required for healing, rejecting the joy that danced at her very doorstep.
Just like our selected song above, when we seek first His kingdom, we can rest assured that He will complete what He purposes in you and for this season. Philippians 1:6 reminds us that “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.” The good works that are sourced in God will bear fruit over time, and I can release my hand from the proverbial plow, sabbath my soul, find joy again — re-joy — in the work thus far accomplished.
“A cheerful disposition is good for your health;
Gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.”-Proverbs 17:22 MSG
“Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?
He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.
they will spend their days in prosperity,
And their descendents will inherit the land.”
-Psalm 25:12-13
“But let me run loose and free, celebrating God’s great work,
Every bone in my body laughing, singing,
‘God, there’s no one like You.’”-Psalm 35:9 MSG