That’s your portion
“Deal With it”
II Samuel 12:19-23 (KJV)
19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. 20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.
21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. 22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?
23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.
Portion (Word Web) - Your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
The next time you feel yourself about to get angry or lose control always take a moment and remind yourself that whatever the situation is that what you are dealing with is your portion
If your situation is really difficult to deal with then you should feel privileged that God has chosen you for such a large portion
Remember the world is watching to see how we deal our portion
Even when you think that no one is watching or listening I can assure you that there are always several people to see how you deal with your portion
Let’s say that you were playing cards with a couple of friends. How would you feel if every time someone got a bad hand they decided that they wanted to throw in their hand for that game
Really that wouldn’t be fair for the rest of the players in the game because they would never get the chance to enjoy their luxury of having a powerful hand to play
My experience with cards reminds me that just because you start off with a bad hand that does not mean that it will stay that way. Some of the hands that appear to be the worse at first glance can end up being some of the most powerful hands ever.
I would like to share a story with you that was sent to me over the internet the other day by my friend Crystal:
On a Saturday night several weeks ago, this pastor was working late, and decided to call his wife before he left for home. It was about 10:00 PM, but his wife didn’t answer the phone. The pastor let the phone ring many times. He thought it was odd that she didn’t answer, but decided to wrap up a few things and try again in a few minutes. When he tried again she answered right away. He asked her why she hadn’t answered before, and she said that it hadn’t rung at their house. They brushed it off as a fluke and went on their merry ways.
The following Monday, the pastor received a call at the church office, which was the phone that he’d used that Saturday night. The man that he spoke with wanted to know why he’d called on Saturday night. The pastor couldn’t figure out what the man was talking about. Then the man said, "It rang and rang, but I didn’t answer." The pastor remembered the mishap and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that he’d intended to call his wife. The man said, "That’s, OK. Let me tell you my story.
You see, I was planning to commit suicide on Saturday night, but before I did, I prayed, ’God if you’re there, and you don’t want me to do this, give me a sign now.’ At that point my phone started to ring. I looked at the caller ID, and it said, ’Almighty God’. I was afraid to answer!" The reason why it showed on the man’s caller ID that the call came from "Almighty God" is because the church that the pastor attends is called Almighty God Tabernacle!!
Prayerfully you were blessed with this story just as I was. This story is important to our study today because had the Pastor given up on the initial perception of his situation he would have never really been able to realize or enjoy the beauty of the final outcome.
In our scripture for today we see King David ending a fast at a time when everyone around him seems to think that he should be even more devoted to his fast
This is like people around us now. The are so quick to advice us on how we should be serving God and where we went wrong in our service to God to they can’t even see the beam in their own eyes that is blinding them.
I find it amazing when a sinner walks to me and says “I thought you were supposed to a Christian.”
They have no idea on what I am doing or why I am doing it just does not fit into their perception of what a Christian is supposed to do so they say that I am wrong
They have absolutely no idea of what the size of the portion that I am dealing with in my life is yet they have the audacity of accusing me of inappropriate Christian behavior and they do not have all of the details of my situation.
What if David was insecure with his relationship with God and allowed the people to talk him out of his understanding and relationship with God. He may have never recovered to see the glory of his son Solomon.
David could have stayed in grieving for the death of the child double the time that was required by him of God and been out of place for his next blessing. We must always realize that we have what it takes to deal with anything that God has placed on us.
We should never let our situation or anything or anyone surrounding us to hinder us from our forward progress with God.
We have to be careful that we don’t move too fast when God allows us to pass through our portions successfully. Let’s look at the sequence of events that David took before he was able to move forward again. (Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.)
In other words he didn’t just get up and walk away after he finished dealing with his portion and neither should we.
David used a five step process that is simple for all of us to follow after we deal with our portions.
1. Arose - (wordweb) Rise to one’s feet
2. Washed - Clean with some chemical process
3. Anointed - Administer an oil or ointment to ; often in a religious ceremony of blessing
4. Changed - Change clothes; put on different clothes
5. Worshipped - Show devotion to (a deity)
God may not call us to do all that David did but we must always be careful to give God the praise before we move on.
Let’s Pray
Our most gracious and loving father we know and understand that you can do anything. We are so thankful that you have thought so much as to bless us with the ability to deal with the portion that you have given us to carry. From this day forward we will be careful not to ever complain about anything that you set before us to deal with. Amen
Thank You. May God continue to bless you and keep you. Amen
Your Friend
Minister Juan D. Lane Sr.
