Portion!

Portion!

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalms 73:26 NIV

The world is indeed a strange place. We live in a world where men scheme to take advantage of all that the world has to offer yet think that they can enjoy its provisions without consequences. You want to take off the world, and yet do not want to pay the price the world will demand for its provisions. There is a system and style to the world, and anyone who seeks to enjoy it must play by its rules. That is the focus of the passage from which today's extract is taken. Asaph took stock, looking at the seeming prosperity of the wicked and the arrogant, and wondered why it seemed that they prospered. It was as if God just turned a blind eye to their wickedness and allowed them to get away with anything. That same feeling is still relevant today, as we consider the spate and scope of evil around us. You may wonder: 'where is God in all these'? 

Asaph got the answer, and part of the answer lies in the words around today's extract: 'Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you'. When evil seems to be popular, I am reminded of the eternal presence of God, and the fact that He alone is eternal. When men scheme and plot their way to get what they do not deserve, or even what they deserve, but in an evil way, I am reminded of the ever-present help of God for all who dare wait for Him. This is where it gets hard: it is not always convenient to wait for God; he sometimes appears slow, or hard to please, but evidence and available accounts all point to the wisdom and sovereignty of God, and the fact that nothing actually happens without His permission. 

When I have that clear understanding, it will keep me from fretting unnecessarily. People may do evil and seemingly get away with it, but if I know who this God is, and who I am in Him, I do not have to fret over things I do not understand. No matter what I own or hold on to now, it is temporary. All physical possessions belong to this earth and will perish with this earth. The body I have been given grows old every day, and one day, it will return to the dust from which it was taken. The human heart is a machine, pumping the lifeblood all through the body and keeping things ticking, but like all machines, if it works long enough, one day, it will simply stop working. in light of these, I have to focus on that which will outlast this physical earth and all that it has, and only God fits that description. He has to be the one and only consideration that matters.

Today's extract calls him my portion forever. What is a portion: as a noun, it means part of a whole, and as a verb, it means to divide something into parts. Either way, God is awesome. He has given me a part of himself to carry around, so that everywhere I step into, I represent Him. I am His eyes, ears, feet, hands and heart, and as long as I am in this physical body, God has to be apparent in me. I am a part of His whole, a reflection of his complete nature. If I know this, why should the schemes of men bother me? If I know that God is my portion, I have all that I need for life and Godliness. Even when all that God places in me: heart and flesh fail, due to the passage of time, the timeless God in me is sufficient, and He will bring me to the place He has prepared for me. This is my confidence in this new year: God is enough for me. Is He for you? God's time of favour is here.