I have all in God

Apparently, the Lord is really trying to drive home the point to me that I do have all in Him and that He is completely sufficient for everything I need.

Last night on Family Life Radio I was listening to a program called "Walk in the Word". The teacher was speaking on covetousness. I was really thankful because these "little sins" don't get touched on very often - and I need the lesson!

He was teaching out of Number 11. The Hebrews were complaining about only receiving manna to eat. They longed for food that they saw in Egypt. The teacher proposed some ideas of why covetousness is sin (I only heard the first two, then I got out of my car, but they are worthwhile anyhow!).

First, he said that covetousness (that is, the desire for something) become sin once we yield to it. He said that the more we focus on something, the more inevitable it is that we will yield to it.

It's not wrong to want to eat (God made my body to be fortified through food), but it becomes sin when I lust for it and indulge too much.

His second point was that covetousness in our lives shows that we believe that God is insufficient. He put it as, "We want God AND..." Yes, we want the Lord, but we also want a house on the lake, travel opportunities and, in my case, all the food I can eat without ever gaining a pound!

This gives me a lot to think about - every time I inordinately want something I pray that the Lord will take me back to the second point. I pray that I will realize that the Lord is more than sufficient.

I work at a Catholic hospital (one that actually still practices, not just nominal) and every morning the Mission Services department sends out an email to the entire staff with a prayer for the day. Honestly, it's usually pretty generic, but sometimes I really like it.

This morning they included a quote from Lady Julian of Norwich. She was a Medieval mystic in England who wrote a ton about God's love. This is her quote that was included:

God of Your goodness, give me Yourself, For You are sufficient for me…
If I were to ask anything less I should always be in want, for in you alone do I have all

The Lord is sufficient for me! I was so intrigued by this writing (many 14th-15th century writing focus on God's judgment and wrath so this is kind of nice!) that I looked her up on the Internet. The Wikipedia article on her is worthwhile to look at as are a couple of other sites. I'll include their links at the bottom.

Praise You, Lord, for being all good, all loving and all sufficient for me! I ask for the same things that Julian asked for:
(a) true contrition, (b) natural compassion and (c) unshakeable longing for God. To know you more, Lord, is all I could ask for!
Amen!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich
http://www.saintnicholas.contactbox.co.uk/archive/julian.htm
http://elvis.rowan.edu/%7Ekilroy/JEK/05/08.html