When We Feel Like We Lack

NEW MERCIES for this orphan-minded sister. I have been so slow to learn that GOD is a good FATHER and I am NOT left as an orphan to care for myself.

I have struggled with this mentality most of my life. Thankfully, God is patient and kind.

I have had a hard time learning to accept that I am God’s beloved daughter and that He will always provide for me and never leave me. Maybe God just wants me to REST in His provision and be thankful for ALL things. Maybe God doesn’t want me DOING anything, but relying on Him and being a joyful daughter who knows she is SECURE.

No striving. Just resting in what God gives me and giving Him praise as I focus on His word. The TRUTH.

The Lord is my Shepherd. I lack NOTHING. (Psalm 23:1)

Do you feel like you are lacking today? I sure started out today convinced I was LACKING….SO MUCH.

THEN, God reminded me of His word. The Lord is my Shepherd. I lack nothing.

No matter how hard today has been or how big we have blown it, new mercies are given each morning. We can start again, by His grace and provision.

Has discouragement beaten you up so badly that your weary heart wonders if it can trust for the future?

How is your hope growing when things go from bad to worse?

What areas do you feel so beat down that you are doing good just to breathe? Where is God calling you to step out in the dark?

Do you feel like there are dead places in your heart/ spiritual life that need to be brought back to life? What steps of obedience do you need to take to be faithful to what God has called you to do?

Let’s start with examining our spiritual health…….and if this feels like too much right now, I get it. Recently, I felt so weighed down with life that this was hard for me to look at, but it matters and determines where we will go from here. I had some decisions to make about life that would require faith and obedience. That was part of the struggle. As I took small steps of obedience, God gave me strength and clarity for the next step. This really helped resolve some of the fog I had been feeling spiritually. Obedience …just small steps of obedience can teach you more in a few minutes than years of studying (I believe Oswald Chambers said something like this, I paraphrased).

I know that when we come to God for the help we need and are honest about our sins, weakness, fears, and doubts, HE MEETS US THERE. Through His word, He will breathe new life into our barely beating hearts. Over and over in God’s word we are told to NOT FEAR.

Believe Him. Do not doubt.

With God, we CAN start again…New Mercies. Just because we failed 10 times today in the same area of life, doesn’t mean we can’t win in that area tomorrow. But we can only win if we depend on God and not ourselves. Apart from Him, we can do nothing!

It has to be the Holy Spirit that gives us what we need as we surrender our will and our way. Moment by moment.

I am ashamed of the many times I have let my desires, fears, or negative self-talk win over doing what was right. That is NOT moving forward in faith. That is giving the enemy ground he shouldn’t have in my life. That is unbelief.

I really do believe He is up to great things and that for those who believe and obey, we will see Him do more than we could ask or imagine. That doesn’t mean it is all going to look the way we want it to look. God works much differently than we do; we just have to trust Him.

When things are messy and complicated. He is working in our mess.

When our hearts break. He comforts and holds us.

When we feel alone. He is a close companion who never leaves.

If God is doing something in your life – I would love to hear about it. I know He does some of His greatest work quietly, behind the curtains of life. Some of us are busier than we want to be and deeply desire a slower pace. Some of us are in lonely seasons, and deeply desire to be seen and heard. Some of us are going through great change that turned our world upside down and we are just trying to do the next thing. Some are grieving. Some are fighting depression or addiction. You are NOT ALONE.

Wherever God has you, He’s there with you and wants you to know Him more through the circumstances He’s allowed in your life. He wants to meet your daily needs. If I can pray for you, please let me know.

Move forward in faith. You are secure in Christ and He will give you what you need. In Christ you lack nothing!

Psalm 16:5-6

Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup. You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen from in pleasant places, surely I have a delightful inheritance.

With Joy and Surrender,

Monica