The Lord Is My Portion

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”  Lamentations 3:24.  This verse was brought to my attention one evening during a prayer time with God.  My initial reaction when I read the verse out was just a deep awe.  “He knows us so well,” I thought, “how does He bring me to specific verses that speak so much to me.”  The verse that follows is “The Lord is good to those who wait on Him, to the soul who seeks him.”  I had such comfort that God was going to reveal to me what it is that He has in mind for me soon.  I had been praying for almost the past year what it is that God wants for me for next year.  I had ideas of what I wanted, but I was never sure.  Things got complicated when I realized that all the work I put into my real estate and a lot of the work I put into my masters program would be lost by the time I get back because it would be too much time that passed.  That put a damper on the comfort I was feeling about returning at first.  So because of that realization, for the past six months or so, I have been wrestling with what to do almost daily.  I was beginning to get quite frustrated that I was not getting a clear direction at all.  Deep down, I knew what my heart wanted, but my head was not lining up with that.  When I had that prayer time the other day, things started falling into place for me. 

So, why was I getting excited by those verses?  Why did I begin to feel peace about things?  To answer that, I need to examine what it means to have the Lord as our portion?  Well, as I always say, I am not someone who is able to dissect meanings of things well, but I can tell you what it means to me personally.  The Lord is my portion.  He is EVERYTHING that I could ever want or need.  What I have in Him and from Him is better than anything that is from this world.  Anything that I could possibly ever receive or achieve here on this Earth is only temporary.  What I have in God is forever.  What I have in God is a constant companion through the Holy Spirit.  I have a Savior who gave His life for me to be able to be with him and have that constant companion.  I have an AMAZING Father who loves me for me, no matter what I do.  Nothing I do could make Him love me more and nothing I do could make Him love me less.  Therefore, I am able to rest in His presence and in His love that He has for me.  Whether I live a life in “missions” or a life in a “typical job” (which can also be missions but in a different way) He loves me the same.  So, the choice I make does not help or hinder his love for me.  For he loved us before we knew Him.  He loved me before I gave my life to Him.  He loved me and loves me with all of my garbage, with all of my filth, with all of my sin and my troubles.  “But God shows His love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)  How Awesome is that. 

Yes, the Lord is my portion.  He provides for me everything I will ever need.  Anything that I have now, He provided for me already.  Really, what more could I ask for or want.  And it is not just material things that He will provide.  He provides encouragement, strength, direction, and so much more.  And because He is my portion, I am able to Hope in Him.  Anything else in this world that we could have hope in will only fail us, or fail us eventually.  When we put our hope in money, relationships, people, jobs, anything, we will end up getting hurt and whatever it is we put our hope in will fail us.  If it does not fail us in our lifetime on this earth, it will when we die.  Because only having hope in the Lord, and trusting in Christ will be sustaining to and through death. 

So, where did my encouragement come from?  It came straight from God Himself.  I know God was reminding me that He is in all things in life.  He is there with me at all times.  And He has what is best for me.  When I wait on Him, He will share with me the path to take.  And either path that I take will be good because He is my portion, He is my strength and I will not be afraid.