"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." --Psalm 16: 5-6
Brett read this Psalm last night at bible study, the entire thing. The phrase that stuck in my head was the above, especially the recognition by the psalmist that it is God who has assigned him his lot in life; the food that he must eat and the cup from which he must drink.
I'm reminded again (thanks God) that where I am and what I'm doing has been orchestrated by the Almighty. It's like the proverbial little kid who refuses to eat the dinner that his parents have put before him. He has two choices: eat it or go hungry. I find that I balk, from time to time, at eating my portion and drinking my cup; I don't always like the meal that has been set before me. But I desire to be obedient and I trust that it is good for me and, as the psalmist says, "pleasant." So I eat, sometimes with gusto, but more often a bit reluctantly.
Help me God, to sit at the table more comfortably; to anticipate with excitement the meal that you serve, and to willingly--without complaint--eat and drink that which you have given me. Too often I complain and moan, forgive me for being so focused on myself and save me from the tyranny of self, the illusion that it's all about me. Amen.
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2 comments:
Good one. Am I the only one that reads this blog? More people should.
Teaching 6th graders in Wilmington where most of the kids (and parents for that matter) don't put such a high value on education, I wonder at every turn whether I make a difference, whether I'm doing anything to mitigate the suffering in the world. Or do all these kids just march into the gangsta-grinder?
A guy named Marcus (high schooler at the time) told me he thought I should stay there when I questioned my role there. I feel like God's got me on a diet. A very bland one at that. I don't know how long I can sit here and wait for this seed to sprout. Worse yet, I know that if I got up and left, I'd end up waitin' on some other seed. I know it's wrong to put my hope in results. It's self-aggrandizing. It misses the point.
I understand the whole deal of God's strength being perfected in weakness. So I'm thinking His strength will show up at any moment because it seems I'm the poster child for weakness.
My cup is full of something that has the same appeal as skim milk. Weak. So He says,"Bottoms up".
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