by: Sandy Domelle
Psalm 16:5, “The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.” Years ago, before our family left to go to the mission field, I remember our pastor, Bro. Hyles, told my dad that the Lord would be our portion on the mission field. What a powerful Bible promise that stuck with not just my parents, but it also with me as a teenager. I have to admit as a young teenage girl I wasn’t very confident that is was going to be enough. Praise the Lord, I learned that He is truly all I need!
Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.” Through the years I have been a pastor’s kid, missionary kid, college kid, new wife, evangelist’s wife, mother and church member. Through each of those titles I can tell you that the Lord has been my portion, and He has proven time and time again what a comfort that promise can be.
I’ve discovered that once I accepted that the Lord was my portion, all my wants and desires meant nothing because He was what I desired! I desired to be a vessel for Him. There’s that deep desire that drives me to spiritually be what I need to be for Him so that I am used by Him in the most effective way. If I’m not in God’s Word and spending time in prayer, I don’t have that closeness that I personally need to feel God’s presence in my life.
I think many Christians struggle with the Lord being their portion because they are wrapped up in the things of the world and not spending enough time in God’s presence. When you spend time in His presence, you see how unworthy you are and what needs to be changed. You realize that life is not about money, possessions or even position. You realize whatever God gives you is enough. I think that’s why we were so happy on the mission field when I was younger. My dad taught us that we had exactly what God gave us so we were content. When I came back from the mission field, I was amazed at all that people had. I learned that we could live without many things that we thought we must have.
You often see people so wrapped up in their careers that all they desire is to obtain a better position or make more money so they neglect the things of the Lord. I’ve said this many times, I’m not against a wife working a job because she honestly needs to, but I am against a lady pursuing her career so much that she forsakes her husband, children and home. If she has no time for them, she doesn’t have time for the Lord either. When the need of money to have things becomes more important than having faith that God is your portion and that He will supply your need, then you have limited what God can do in and through you.
One of the best things I have experienced in my life is “living by faith.” As a missionary kid, we completely had to rely on the Lord for love offerings and support. Now for these many years, I have been the evangelist’s wife, and I have continued to see God supply and meet our needs. When an evangelist doesn’t have a meeting for a week, they don’t get a paycheck. When a church doesn’t give the evangelist a love offering, they go without a paycheck. When the evangelist gets sick and cannot travel, he gets no paycheck. When the holidays come and there’s no meeting, we receive no paycheck. Am I complaining? No! Simply pointing out that even though many think the field of the evangelist is a life of luxury, it’s simply a life of living by faith. God meets and supplies many of our needs through dear sweet people because He has promised us that He will be our portion. With the Lord as our portion, He is sufficient and we have ALL we need!
I know I have experienced blessings beyond what I could’ve ever imagined because by faith we have accepted that the Lord will be our portion. He will meet our needs, He will care for us. I feel for the people who have never had to rely on the Lord completely for everything they have or need. They miss out on the blessings, and they also miss out on seeing how God uses His sweetest people to be used as vessels to care for His people.
You may be at a point in your life where you are struggling with finances, needs, health, etc. You may be a missionary wife in a foreign country and you feel you are all alone. God will show you over and over again that He is your portion if you just trust Him and have the faith that He will provide. You may be a full-time Christian servant’s wife who is on staff at a church that can’t pay you what you feel you are worthy of. Don’t be discouraged, God knows what you need and He will be your portion! Dig into God’s Word and gain that faith that the Lord is your portion. But don’t forget to pray begging God to meet those needs, for God will care for you!