It is easy to think about what we wish we had, but how often do we reflect on what God has already provided? A simple review of your life may reveal that God has already blessed you in abundant ways.
9Â You visit the earth and water it abundantly,
Psalm 65:9-13
enriching it greatly.
God’s stream is filled with water,
for you prepare the earth in this way,
providing people with grain.
10Â You soften it with showers and bless its growth,
soaking its furrows and leveling its ridges.
11Â You crown the year with your goodness;
your carts overflow with plenty.
12Â The wilderness pastures overflow,
and the hills are robed with joy.
13Â The pastures are clothed with flocks
and the valleys covered with grain.
They shout in triumph; indeed, they sing.
We can thank God that He has not left us on our own. Psalmist David mentioned that God visits the earth. Many people don’t believe in God, but there’s a large number of people who believe in a detached God.
In their thinking, God may have created everything, but He’s not interested in us.
He’s way too busy.
He’s way too important.
He’s got too much to concern Himself with our well-being, but that could not be further from the truth.
God visits the earth. He watches over our needs. When He waters, He does so abundantly. God doesn’t do anything halfway. His activity enriches the world extensively, and so by doing, He blesses our lives without measure. When He provides sources for our nourishment, He fills those vessels to the brim. Psalm 65:9 tells us that God fills, prepares, and provides.Â
As He covers the earth with precipitation, the ground receives the nourishment needed. The water goes down, and the grain comes up. His provision carves out the necessary channels from which the source of sustenance comes. Through the ebb and flow of weather patterns upon the earth, God levels it to prepare the dirt to feed the entire world. All of our food groups are dependent upon God continually watering the soil.
Families and friends gather around tables with bountiful plenty. The number of potential leftovers in your home should remind you how richly blessed you truly are. Whenever we near the end of a year, we see how God has crowned another passing of the calendar with His goodness yet again.
We can thank him because our lives are overflowing with more than enough.Â
Like the Apostle Paul, many of us know what it’s like to live in times of plenty and want (Phil. 4:12). As you survey your life, you can find things you desire. There are some things that maybe you even feel like you need.
We live in a society full of endless shopping which creates a consumeristic tension within all of us if we are not careful. The challenge is to remain content.
The advertisements tell you what you don’t have, but Scripture reminds us of the abundance that is already ours.
The best way to fight an envious, restless spirit is to remind yourself how blessed you are. Look around your life. Look around this room. Look around your church. Since the LORD is our Shepherd, we don’t have to want (Ps. 23:1). He supplies all of our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19).
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.