Lacking No Good Thing

"No good thing does he withhold

from those who walk uprightly."

- Psalm 84:11

I came across this verse this morning in my Psalms devotional.

It's a hard truth to swallow yet liberating at the same time.

My loving, perfect, all-knowing, all-powerful Heavenly Father withholds nothing good from me. Not because I have a perfect upright moral record, but because I have Jesus' perfect upright moral record. He sees me as one who walks uprightly because Jesus did for my sake.

And therefore, he withholds nothing good from me. He is not punitive. He is not withholding. He doesn't delight in making me squirm or struggle or lack. He is a Father of abundance.

So what about the things I lack? The person I lack? What about G?

Not only now, but what about G then - when he was sick, or depressed, or struggling with the effects of the abuse he suffered? What about having a husband that couldn't be all that he had been or all that he wanted to be?

What about more children? The family we dreamed of. A sibling for P. We would've named him Silas. Or her Haley Mae. What about those dreams?

Or a long life together? Even a medium life together? G being here when P is a teen and watching him go off to college and get married and have babies - if those things are God's will for him.

What about companionship? What about... what about... what about...

He withholds no good things. Nothing. Which tells me that those things I've thought I need, and those things I think I need right now- in my Heavenly Father's wisdom, they are not good. Not for me. If they were, I would have them.

And that's the struggle. It's having His perspective. It's valuing what He values. Inner beauty. A quiet and content spirit. Faith. Trust. Hope. Love. Himself. Less of the things I think I need brings me to having more of Jesus. The One who I really need. The One who my soul really craves. The answer to my longings.

He did not withhold his Son from me. He saved me. He rescued me from sin and darkness. He promised me eternal life. He has not withheld all that is best. Either eternally or (much harder to believe) in this life.

So I can trust him. This "in the middle" time, this is best. This loneliness, this is best. These unfulfilled dreams and longings? Best. Not a sign that I am rejected, singled out, and mistreated by God, but a sign of his perfect love, provision and plan.

Oh that my heart could believe what my mind knows to be true!