You Will Lack No Good Thing
God’s Word is filled with rich promises for His children. How do these “precious and very great promises” inform and direct your grief? How does keeping your eyes fixed on these truths anchor your hope in the Lord? In this series, we write about how God, through the promises in His Word, comforts and strengthens us in our sorrow.
In the days following my miscarriage and the subsequent loss of my precious son Max, there was nothing I longed for more fervently than my child. I sat in an empty nursery staring at an empty crib with empty arms wrapped around my empty womb, crying out with all of my soul for my child. I wanted him desperately. A quote I had seen ran through my mind a million times each day was— “no one ever wanted anything more than we wanted you.”
It was a longing that made all others seem so small and insignificant. I would have given just about anything to have him back. I wanted him with every fiber of my being. I had a loving husband, a stable and persistent community, a job that brought me joy, my literal dream house, and a strong relationship with a God I genuinely adored. I had so much fullness in my life, and yet, without Max, I was consumed by what I lacked—my son.
In Psalm 34:9, David writes, “Fear the Lord, you His holy people, for those who fear Him lack nothing.” In a few translations, “lack nothing” reads instead “suffer no want.” But I was certainly suffering a want. A deep, all consuming want. The next verse says, “Those who seek the Lord lack (or want) no good thing.” But I wanted Max. I wanted him so badly. Does that mean that Max wasn’t a good thing or wasn’t good for me? That didn’t sit well with me. I simply could not believe that my loving God wouldn’t classify my child, a child knit together by God Himself, as a good thing.
So what are we to do with this passage in light of such great and profound loss? Loss that leaves us wanting something more desperately than we could have previously thought possible. The answer, I believe, lies in determining what exactly God calls good.
He calls many things good throughout Scripture. In Genesis 1, He says that everything He created was good. He says that companionship is good (Genesis 2). He calls His plans and purposes good (Jeremiah 29 and Romans 8). He calls some human deeds good (Matthew 5).
But of course, God’s Word makes it very clear that the ultimate and only true, unadulterated good is God Himself. Over and over again in Scripture the authors, and even Christ Himself, tell us that God is good. Jesus says in Mark 10:18, “No one is good except God alone.” Earlier in Psalm 34, David says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
In the end, the good that God will not withhold from those who know and love Him is Himself. He promises to bend low and come near (Psalm 116). Through Christ we have been given access to the very throne room and presence (Hebrews 4). The Holy Spirit resides inside those of who know Him (1 Corinthians 6). There is no question, that through Christ, we as believers have unrivaled access to God Himself, the ultimate good.
So was Max a good gift from a good gift God? Absolutely. Unequivocally. And is it okay and right that I miss and long for him every day, even four years later? Absolutely. Unequivocally. But the best and “most good” thing about my son is that he points me to Christ. His life taught me so much about the way that God designs each of us and plans out our days. And his death showed me just how desperately I needed the Lord to sustain me each day. Max drew me toward a loving Father from whom every good and perfect gift comes. And he continues to draw me toward a God who cares deeply about my suffering and broken heart. A God who longs to fill every empty space in my heart—even the Max sized one.
If you are reading this today, longing for a child you lost, or another yet to come, that longing is okay. The longing you feel will one day be fulfilled. But it won’t be filled by a baby. It wouldn’t be filled if your baby hadn’t died, and it won’t be filled if you have another. It will be filled by God and God alone because only He is truly good. And only He can rescue and sustain. As you dwell on God’s presence and His promise to not withhold any good thing, I pray that Psalm 63:1-4 would become a passage on which you can stand.
“You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.”
- Sam
Hope Mom to Max and Baby Martin
Sam is a graphic designer and marketing professional in Frisco, Texas. She and her husband, Spencer, have been married since 2011, and have two children in heaven, Baby Martin (Jan 2016) and Max (Dec 2016), and two in their arms, Lachlan (Dec 2017) and Meryn (Aug 2019). They enjoy serving in their church, building community, and restoring their 100 year-old home. Sam is in two book clubs and can always be found with a book in her purse and a warm beverage in her hand.
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