Encouragement in Our Lacking
Catching up on email last night, I was so encouraged by John Nowlin’s pastoral article, Shepherding Hearts That Lack, that I’m sharing the link for those of us who are acutely aware of how much we humanly lack. Nowlin is Pastor for Young Adult Discipleship at Bethlehem Baptist Church and wrote the article for parents. It opens:
1 Peter 5:5–7 Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Life as finite creatures in a fallen world means facing lack. In the most significant places and at critical junctures we come up short. We lack sovereignty to alter our circumstances. Our resources, at times, are insufficient to meet the demands upon us. From birth we lack (or fall short of) the glory of God (Romans 3:23). From new birth until glory we continually need the Shepherd at work in us to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). One of life’s critical battles is clinging to God’s truth and promises in the midst of our neediness. …
God wants us to be encouraged today as we face everything we are lacking. Because God lacks nothing and offers us all of Himself.
As Nowlin observes, “Therefore the command to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God invites us toward a good place—a place to receive grace.”
