My Portion

What is your portion? Well, first, a portion refers to an allotted part of a whole. It might be the food you're provided from a whole array of choices. We know it in dietary terms -- "portion control." It is often used in inheritance, where the amount provided to each individual is their "portion."

In the Bible there are multiple references to God as "my portion." What is that? In Scripture it is often linked to the inheritance. Whatever it is, it is still the same thing -- that which has been allotted to you. But in what sense is God your portion? Asaph (Psa 73:26), David (Psa 16:5; Psa 142:5), and Jeremiah (Lam 3:24) all referred to God as their portion. Interestingly, all are looking at trouble ("Preserve me, O God" (Psa 16:1); "My flesh and my heart may fail" (Psa 73:26); "No refuge remains for me" (Psa 142:4); "My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD." (Lam 3:18)). So this -- "The Lord is my portion" -- is a matter of comfort in trouble.

So, you're hungry and you sit down at the table and you look at your portion. You ask yourself, "Is it enough?" In this case, your portion is God. Is that enough? When Jeremiah cried out, "My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD." (Lam 3:18), he said, "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope." (Lam 3:21) What? God's steadfast love never ceases (Lam 3:22-23). "The Lord is my portion, therefore I will hope in Him." (Lam 3:24). In genuinely dire straits, Jeremiah looked at what he was given, saw that it was God, and concluded, "It is enough. Therefore, I have hope."

We who belong to Christ have the Lord as our portion, our provision, our inheritance. Imagine that! Everyone else is looking for "comfort" or "fame" or "wealth" or "health" or a myriad other earthly possibilities. We get God. The question becomes, "Is that enough?" We nod and assure ourselves it is, but when that pain comes, we act as if it's not. We expect God and. God and comfort, God and that job, God and no death or sickness. God and respect from our peers. On and on. Our portion, Scripture tells us, is the Lord. You need to figure out if God is enough. If not, you are indeed without hope. If He is, you need to tell yourself. Because we all sometimes find ourselves complaining and if God really is our portion and really is sufficient, we have no room to complain.