The Lord Is My Portion - The Crosswalk Devotional - October 7
The Lord Is My Portion
By Cindi McMenamin
Bible Reading:
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I wait for Him.” (Lamentations 3:24 NASB)
Life was going well, and I had been assigned to write an article called “10 Ways Your Life Looks Different When God Is Your Portion.” I read through every verse in the Bible about God being our portion, our refuge, our reward. And I prayed that God would make me a person who saw Him as my portion.
As I was writing the article, I also prayed for insight about the hurts and disappointments people would be experiencing as they read the article, so it would be a comfort and encouragement to them. I thought of my mother, who was sinking into depression as her husband was sinking deeper into the disease of Alzheimer’s. I thought of a reader who had just lost a dear friend. I thought of someone who may just be receiving the news that they’d lost their longtime job.
“God, give me Your words that people will most need to read for their hearts to be encouraged,” I prayed.
I turned in the article and didn’t think about it for a couple of weeks. Until the day came that the article was published. I read through it once again, emailed a link of the article to my mom so she could read it, and prayed that everyone who encountered it would be encouraged.
And then it happened.
I received an email that same morning with devastating news, and in an instant, I knew God had arranged for that article to encourage me. He was using all those verses I had read and studied earlier in order to write that article, not just help others, but to move me to a place where I saw Him as my ultimate reward. While life was going well, it was easy to think that I was already seeing God as my portion. But when I had lost something dear to me, I suddenly had to take inventory of what was most important.
Immediately, the lessons I wrote about came to my mind: Because the Lord is my portion, I don’t need to worry about my provision, my future, or whether or not I have an inheritance. Because the Lord is my refuge, I can feel safe in His care, regardless of uncertainties. Because He is my reward, I can find contentment in life, and focus on my blessings, not my burdens, and the things I seem to be losing. And because He is my portion and my very great reward, I can surrender the need to succeed and find my identity in Him, not in what I do.
Tears came to my eyes as I realized that more than needing the good news I was expecting in that email, God knew I needed to see Him as my portion and my very great reward.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
What would you consider your greatest reward? Is it your children and grandchildren? Is it the legacy you’ve worked for all your life? Is it the retirement that awaits you or the commendation you waited years to earn? Is it your ministry or the satisfaction you feel after serving others or bringing about some good for someone?
God’s Word is true when it tells us we will only find the desires of our hearts if we delight ourselves in the Lord (Psalm 37:4). And Asaph, the psalmist, knew the true rewards of this life when he sang these words to his Maker and Sustainer in Psalm 73:25-26:
“Whom do I have in heaven but You?
And with You, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (NASB).
When the Lord becomes your greatest treasure and reward, you will never find yourself lacking.
Thank You, Lord God, for loving us so much You know what we need eternally, not just temporarily. Help us to see You as our greatest portion and our most treasured reward, and may we be satisfied with nothing less.
Further Study:
Psalm 16
For daily encouragement in seeing the Lord as your portion, see Cindi’s book, The New Loneliness Devotional: 50 days to a Closer Connection with God.
How did today’s devotional speak to you? Share your thoughts in the Crosswalk Devotional discussion.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/NiseriN
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