The Lord is My Portion
"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for Him.' The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3: 21-26)."
As a follower of Christ, you always have hope. This hope is not based on your circumstances, but based on the God who filled you with His presence the day you were saved. In life, you and I will experience drought. There will be days when we are down. There will be times when we feel as though we cannot take another step. You look around and see all the wickedness in the world. You see evil men prospering and death happening all around us. However, it is in these times, you and I need to remind ourselves of the goodness of God. Not only His goodness, but the fact that He is in complete control of everything that happens. He is faithful, even when we are not. "If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself (2 Timothy 2:13)."
So what does that mean? God is not a man. He never changes. As He was in the past, He will be in the present and in the future. He is faithful, regardless of whether you and I are faithful, He will be faithful because it is a part of His character. He can be trusted. You can always depend on Him. He will never stop loving you and He will never stop taking care of you. "The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to You and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made. The Lord is near to all who call on Him , to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy (Psalm 145:13-20)."
Regardless of your circumstances, which are temporary, God has a good plan for your life and He will work all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are the called according to His purpose. He is using your present affliction to make you more like His Son. It is in the hardships that God refines us like gold is refined in the fire. The word refine is mentioned several times in the Bible. Refine means to "reduce to a pure state, to free from moral imperfection, to improve by pruning or polishing or to free from what is coarse or vulgar." Refining is not an easy process, in fact, it is often quite painful. However, it is a necessary part of the believer's life as it does several important things. Refining will grow and strengthen our faith, humble us, and take out things in our life and within ourselves that aren't pleasing to the Lord. " You should be exceedingly glad on this account, though now for a little while you are distressed by trials and suffer temptations. So that the genuineness of your faith may be tested, your faith, which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire. This proving of your faith is intended to contribute to your praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One is revealed (1 Peter 1:6-8)."
Hardship, difficulty and trials are nothing new. We will all go through them. What is important is how we respond to these experiences. In Psalm 73, Asaph struggled with the same things we struggle with today. The wicked were prospering and the righteous were suffering. He came to the realization that although the wicked may prosper now, in the end they will perish. He continues that it really doesn't matter how much the wicked prosper because his inheritance, his portion, is not here on earth. He ended the Psalm with these words: "Whom have I in heaven but You?And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Psalm 73:25-26)."
If we truly believe that God is in complete control, He is just, He is our rescuer, our peace, our provider....our everything, then we know we have absolutely nothing to fear. Remembering God's promises and meditating on the truth of His word will change our perspective. The problem may not immediately go away, but we will be filled with His peace and joy and in turn shine brightly in the darkness. Others will see and God will indeed get the glory.
When you have the Lord Jesus, who is your portion, you have enough.
As a follower of Christ, you always have hope. This hope is not based on your circumstances, but based on the God who filled you with His presence the day you were saved. In life, you and I will experience drought. There will be days when we are down. There will be times when we feel as though we cannot take another step. You look around and see all the wickedness in the world. You see evil men prospering and death happening all around us. However, it is in these times, you and I need to remind ourselves of the goodness of God. Not only His goodness, but the fact that He is in complete control of everything that happens. He is faithful, even when we are not. "If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself (2 Timothy 2:13)."
So what does that mean? God is not a man. He never changes. As He was in the past, He will be in the present and in the future. He is faithful, regardless of whether you and I are faithful, He will be faithful because it is a part of His character. He can be trusted. You can always depend on Him. He will never stop loving you and He will never stop taking care of you. "The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to You and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made. The Lord is near to all who call on Him , to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy (Psalm 145:13-20)."
Regardless of your circumstances, which are temporary, God has a good plan for your life and He will work all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are the called according to His purpose. He is using your present affliction to make you more like His Son. It is in the hardships that God refines us like gold is refined in the fire. The word refine is mentioned several times in the Bible. Refine means to "reduce to a pure state, to free from moral imperfection, to improve by pruning or polishing or to free from what is coarse or vulgar." Refining is not an easy process, in fact, it is often quite painful. However, it is a necessary part of the believer's life as it does several important things. Refining will grow and strengthen our faith, humble us, and take out things in our life and within ourselves that aren't pleasing to the Lord. " You should be exceedingly glad on this account, though now for a little while you are distressed by trials and suffer temptations. So that the genuineness of your faith may be tested, your faith, which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire. This proving of your faith is intended to contribute to your praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One is revealed (1 Peter 1:6-8)."
Hardship, difficulty and trials are nothing new. We will all go through them. What is important is how we respond to these experiences. In Psalm 73, Asaph struggled with the same things we struggle with today. The wicked were prospering and the righteous were suffering. He came to the realization that although the wicked may prosper now, in the end they will perish. He continues that it really doesn't matter how much the wicked prosper because his inheritance, his portion, is not here on earth. He ended the Psalm with these words: "Whom have I in heaven but You?And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Psalm 73:25-26)."
If we truly believe that God is in complete control, He is just, He is our rescuer, our peace, our provider....our everything, then we know we have absolutely nothing to fear. Remembering God's promises and meditating on the truth of His word will change our perspective. The problem may not immediately go away, but we will be filled with His peace and joy and in turn shine brightly in the darkness. Others will see and God will indeed get the glory.
When you have the Lord Jesus, who is your portion, you have enough.
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