Dear Church Family –
What do you want from God?
We often want more from God than He is giving us—more money, more peace, more opportunities, more love.
And we often want less from God than He is giving us—less stress, less suffering, less work, fewer challenges.
And sometimes we don’t want anything from God. We just want to be free to do what we want.
And sometimes we just feel overwhelmed with the strong, deep, and many problems of our world and want God to give us greater insight and hope and ability to cope.
Every time I read through the Psalms, I pause on Psalm 16:5-6:
“Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”
God gives us exactly what we need. He assigns our “portion.” I was challenged and helped this morning by today’s reading from Daily With the King, by W. Glyn Evans.
“Lord, too often I have given You a Scrooge image. My puny faith and large problems have sometimes made me wonder if behind a frowning providence You hide a frowning face. I look at the massive forces that surround me—illness, worry, accident, death—and I suffer from a dreadful inferiority. I am often cowed, harassed, and compressed into a thin, weak existence.
“Lord, show me the portion You have for me. It is the portion You selected for me, and it is measured out daily. That portion assures me that what I receive today comes from Your hands and, painful or sweet, is intended for my eternal good. I cannot lose what You have promised. Not one single atom will be denied me. You measure out my portion carefully and fairly. If I gladly accept it, You will cause Your bounteous blessings to pour into me and through me to others.
“Sometimes, Lord, I have botched things up by grabbing my own portion. How patient You are, Lord. If I insist on seizing my own portion by selfish strength, You will not compete with me. You will let me have my way until I learn the bitter lesson; all seized portions lead to ultimate bitterness. Your portion may be bitter, Lord, but it always leads to ultimate sweetness.
“Let me always allow You to choose my portion; otherwise exhaustion and failure will follow. And when You choose, what glory!”
The truth is, we need more for life than we can come up with on our own. But Jesus promises, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matt 7:7-8).
Thanks for seeking God and trusting His portion. – Pastor Tim