Rich in the Lord
by Devon Harman
When Doug asked me to write a Blog post for Lent, my first reaction was, “Oh no! I’m not a writer! I can’t let people read what I write!” But after much prayer I said yes and then, being the planner that I am, I began to carve out some time over the next two weeks that I would be able to spend on this post between work, coaching, etc. Well… enter the ice storm of 2015 and 36 hours without power, and suddenly I had tons of time and therefore no more excuses to not start writing!
The readings for this day are:
Psalms 95* * 40, 54, 51
Deuteronomy 10:12-22
Hebrews 4:11-16
John 3:22-36
I tried to pick just one passage to focus on, but as I was reading, I found verses from each of them that I could really relate to. I will share a few of my reflections below.
“As for me, I am poor and needy…” Psalm 40: 17
Being stuck in your house without power for 36 hours in below freezing temperatures with ice on the roads really makes you feel needy for the things we take for granted everyday! Needy for heat, needy for light, needy for simple things like a hot water! We all feel poor and needy at one time or another in our lives. Maybe we don’t have a support system or maybe we feel the world is against us or maybe we are just having a pity-party kind of day.
As children we are both poor and needy, having to fully rely on our parents/caretakers for both financial and emotional support. As we grow older, we get our first job and feel on top of the world after getting that first paycheck. We soon realize it doesn’t go very far, and we need even more support now than when we were infants. In college we become poor and needy again with little or no time to work. After college we get our first “big” job and a real paycheck and then realize the amount of taxes taken out. We’re definitely more poor and needy than we thought we would be at this stage in life!
Throughout my life during each of these phases, I can remember my mom always telling me, “we are rich in the Lord and that is all that we will ever need!” Of course as a child I didn’t fully grasp what that meant when I wanted something that cost more than my parents were willing to shell out. As I grew older and life came at me, I began to really understand the meaning of that phrase. Truly the only wealth we need in life is that of the Lord. He will provide all that we need, maybe not what we want at a certain time or think we need, but God knows exactly what we need and when we need it.
Truly knowing the Lord and fully grasping his love for us is more wealth and support than we will ever need in a lifetime, so share it with your family and friends. Even just being joyful around other people will give them a reason to want to know the source of your joy and will give you a chance to share the joys of the Lord with them! “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” Psalm 51:12 So remember, whether you have a support system of family or friends or you don’t, the Lord truly is your biggest cheerleader and he will never leave us or let us down! “Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!” Psalm 95:2.
Image by Hector Garcia (used by permission via Creative Commons).
