1-28-2023

Good Morning All,

       Lamentations 3:24; “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.”   

    We have become a society that wants everything in a “one stop has it all” lifestyle.  We want to get our car serviced while we get our teeth checked and our kids get their eyes tested.  When we get done we’ll get groceries and take supper home; all under one roof.  We have come to demand this type of service.  We expect our every want to be satisfied and quickly.

     We do the same with God.  Oh, we may pray to God, we may bring our petitions to him but is it prayer or a shopping list.  You know the prayer.  “Dear God, Fix my kids, straighten out my spouse, do something about my boss and that co-worker, give me a pay raise, give me patience and give it to me now.”  Too often, we think this is a prayer.  We view God as our celestial Wal-Mart ready to deliver all our wants and now. 

    The thing we miss is that this type of prayer; actually, this type of life; misses God’s promised blessings in our life.  This type of “demand prayer” leaves us empty, wallowing in a muddy shallow of selfishness and hollow discontentment.  When we take this attitude; we rob our lives of some of God’s greatest blessings.  We blur the line between God’s plan for our life and our desire for our life.  We tell God want we demand and how we demand it and then expect Him to intervene on our behalf on our timeline.  All the while we are stressed and distressed because things aren’t going to our plan.

    We fail to see that it is not God’s presents that matter it is his presence.  God lives actively in our lives offering to us a true hope.  Too often we get caught up in our consumer society and miss God’s love. 

    Our verse tells us that the Lord is my portion.  It doesn’t say part of my portion but the whole portion.  We are distracted cravers when we expect our people, places and things to fill our hearts as only God can. God loves us so much. Why do we forget this all the time? His plan is perfect and we can trust Him. He knows our needs and desires. When we seek Him as the answer instead of for the answer, God enables us to rest in confidence that He's working on our behalf and in our best interest, to bring glory to Himself through our lives.

    Let us remember that God is our portion.  He is the only one who can fill our heart with true hope, true comfort and true peace.  So let’s set our lists, our demands aside and seek God, seek his love, seek his peace.  When we finally let go of our goals and cling to his promise by faith will we have true happiness.  Remember his mercies.  Relish in his love and receive his portion as your fullness.

Dearest Father, your mercy is new to us every day.  Too often we seek our own goals and desires and place our wants ahead of your grace.  Forgive us when we do so.  Give us strength to live our lives with you as our portion, with you as our wholeness.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray.  Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret