Just My Portion

There are a lot of sad reality TV shows, but the most grievous ones are those which focus on the hoarding of material things. People who live in such bondage have an extremely difficult time of letting go and disciplining themselves to live simply. Yet many of us also have too many things that we never will use. We keep gathering more and more stuff to fill the need that only God can fill in our hearts.

In Proverbs 30, the wise man asked God to give him neither poverty nor riches. He didn’t want to be so poor that he would steal and malign the name of God. Neither did he want to be so rich that he would forget that God is his provider. He wanted his portion—that which God has ordained.

What would it be like if Christians asked God to give them only their portion—nothing more, nothing less? We would shop differently, right? We wouldn’t need a closet full of clothes and shoes that we can’t possibly wear.

Our portion doesn’t necessarily mean that we would live in want. Rather, we would learn to be content with what we had rather than always wanting the latest, greatest fashions or homes. Learning to be satisfied with our portion wouldn’t just affect our finances but would spill over to how we control what we eat and what we say to others.

The Lord promises to provide everything we need according to His riches and glory. However, He didn’t promise to give us everything that we want. Many of us have what we need and more (above our portion). Perhaps the Lord allows us to have more than our portion as an opportunity for us to share the good things we have with others who are in need.