Dana Reardon - When God satisfies, I shall not want

When God satisfies, I shall not want

"The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want."

Sometimes Scripture presents us with two distinct meanings: One for the time they were first written or written down and another meaning for another day.

Usually when I read Psalm 23, I understand the line, "I shall not want" as God's promise to take care of us so that we are never in need. It certainly is the most likely understanding.

But lately I have been on a low Carbohydrate diet. The first several days are the hardest. I craved sweets and other carbs. But after several days my insulin levels decreased and the cravings went away. But I still find myself thinking, "would really like..." or "I want." It is like I want to want something even when I am not really hungry.

Some people have that problem with things other than food. They shop just to shop. They watch shopping shows or even just commercials so that they can find things to want. Things they know they don't need and wonder what to do with when they get them home.

Wanting seems to make us feel more alive. I guess that is okay. But if we are going to want, then maybe we need to stop and really examine what it is we desire. I know that usually with food cravings, once I get past a day or two I realize that I am actually not hungry for food, but if I want at all it is for something other than food.

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.

Psalm 42:1.

So now I am reading Psalm 23 differently. I am seeing that when God fills our longings then we no longer want for the sake of wanting.

God's filling us makes us alive without all the stuff that we may feel really alive in the desiring of, but in the possessing just get too weighed down.

One of the ways that we can use this understanding is by keeping our favorite verses and stories of the Scripture close to our hearts so that we can examine what we think we want and need in terms of who we are as God's children. And we can be free from most of the wanting and that would distract us from our relationship with God.

Lord,

Grant me what I truly need in this life and more, grant me the freedom from wanting more.

Amen

The Rev. Dana Reardon is pastor at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Warwick, RI. A lifelong Lutheran, she came to ordained ministry after 21 years in nursing, mostly in pediatric intensive care. She graduated from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1998 and served 4 ½ years in Upstate New York before becoming a New Englander. She is still trying to understand the accent. While in the Upstate New York Synod she chaired the Stewardship Team. That began her fascination with what makes stewards -- and more, what makes for generosity. She has three amazing daughters: Pastor Reardon says much of what she knows of life she learned from them.