“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” Psalm 23:1 NIV
When we focus on what we don’t have, we’re unhappy. We lack nothing in the United States, yet we are unable to make the top 10 in a study of world happiness. A happiness survey that began in 2012 analyzes happiness in 156 countries each year. Currently, the U.S. is 19, they have never made it into the top 10. Even more puzzling, the U.S. is the 11th wealthiest country in the world according to a 2018 study. We make more money than most of the world, we live longer as a result of our wealth, yet we’re not happy. We lack nothing, but we don’t realize it. Instead, we’re focused on what we don’t have, as a result, we’re unhappy.
We also don’t acknowledge where our wealth comes from. We forget that we were formed as one nation, under one God. When I was a child, we said the Pledge of Allegiance every morning in the public school I attended:
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Our nation is blessed because of the God who is our Shepherd. Founded on His principles, we’ve forgotten what those are. In God we trust in Him we lack nothing.
In God we trust in Him we lack nothing.
When we shift our focus, we can find happiness. When we acknowledge who our Provider is, we shift our focus from us to Him. Without the soil He created, we can’t grow food. Without the water He makes flow, we can’t drink. Without the air he made, we can’t breathe. Without Him, we cannot live. When we acknowledge Him for what He has done, we find gratitude. We find gratitude for the country we live in that allows us the freedom to live our lives anyway we want too. We find gratitude for the jobs we have, the homes we live in and the food we eat. We stop focusing on what we don’t have, instead we’re grateful for what we do have. We live in a first world country of abundance that the Lord has provided. We lack nothing.
Question of the Day:
What do you have to be grateful for today?
Further Reading: Exodus 5:22-7:25 NIV, Matthew 18:21-19:12 NIV, Psalm 23:1-6 NIV, Proverbs 5:22-23 NIV
