Everything I NeedSample

Everything I Need: My Portion

“Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,

Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home;

When Jesus is my portion, My constant Friend is He.

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

I sing because I’m happy, and I sing because I’m free.

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He cares for me.”

-Civilla D. Martin, 1905

I don’t know about you, but the word portion has forever been ruined for me by the variety of Weight Watcher commercials that have cycled throughout the decades. Portion = food. Portion = diet. Portion points me to a life of tiny bites, of deprivation. It means restriction, denying myself the enjoyment of that blessed bowl of moose tracks ice cream, or having to stop prematurely after indulging in one bite of insanely good, ooey-gooey chocolate lava cake. Portion means having a much smaller amount of something I desire. It means that I have to stop short of what I really want, and ultimately that I won’t be satisfied. 

If I say “portion,” you say…  Control!

I wonder if that’s how Civilla Martin thought about the word portion when she penned those beautiful song lyrics about a Christian couple whom, while both riddled with life limiting bodily afflictions, lived happy lives overflowing with faith? (Look up the song story for some interesting background!) I’m pretty sure she wasn’t thinking about restriction, like we think about restricting sugar or carbs nowadays. The fad diets and portion control mindset is really only a fairly recent trend in our culture of excess and indulgence.  

At the turn of the twentieth century, Cheetos and Cinnabon weren’t around. Food wasn’t fast, and cooking an apple pie was significantly more laborious than the ease in which I rip open a box of Pillsbury pie crust, roll out the premade crust, and cut cute little shapes in the perfectly flattened and round crust to delicately place on top. In my mind’s eye, a homemade apple pie made in 1905 was certainly much more of a valued prize that was savored with family and friends in community together at a table than how we think about eating an apple pie today. After all, we can just run down to the local grocery store chain and pick one up in less than 30 minutes!

The word portion does indeed mean a measure. A perfect measure, not a lacking measure. A measure that is uniquely ours… and not anyone else’s. It is the exact amount of something that we need. A common definition of portion (as a noun) is “an individual’s part or share of something: such as a share received by a gift or inheritance.”

A gift, an inheritance - something that we couldn’t earn, but an honor we receive just by being adopted into the family of God as a son and daughter. Jesus is our portion. Our share of good. Our family inheritance with all the privileges and titles of a son or daughter.

Psalm 16:5 [AMP] says, “The Lord is my chosen and assigned portion, my cup; You hold and maintain my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good heritage.” We have a good heritage because God is good. We have a portion, a perfect measure assigned to us that keeps us safe, that upholds us, that enables us to fly above the storm and fight battles on His consistent faithfulness and strength. His portion and measure for us is a perfect gift that we need so desperately in this life.  

Reflection:

• When you think of the word portion, do you think of having enough of something, or having a lack of something? Do you feel full right now? Why or why not? (You know that I’m not talking about food at this point!)
• Have you ever asked God what your unique and measured portion is at this moment? If not, take a few moments to ask Him. Ask Him to reveal anything that is getting in the way of that portion. Be encouraged. God is faithful!