the whole of it all

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

“therefore I will hope in him.”

Following the darkness of the second lament, this verse – right in the middle of the book – is powerful. Hopeful. Enlightening.

There’s something cleansing about suffering. It burns away everything that’s superfluous. And sometimes it’s when everything else is gone that we truly realize our need for God – truly feel our dependance on him.

It shouldn’t be that way. But it is. So we should learn from it.

God as our portion.

God as enough – so much that we don’t have to go back for more. So much that we need nothing else. So much that anything else is an unneeded additive.

How come God can be enough when we have nothing but him, but somehow fall short when things are going well?

Could it be that I add things into my life that are extraneous – and then grow dependent on them?

Could it be that if God doesn’t seem like enough for my needs that I’ve cluttered the pathway I take to get to him so much that I can no longer see him?

Because he is our portion – he is all we need. And it shouldn’t take tragedy to bring us back to that realization. How can God be enough for your needs? How can you get back? What do you need to remove that takes your dependance from him?

Because there is freedom in the Lord – and when he is enough we experience life in ways beyond what we ever dreamed.