The Portion of my Inheritance

I love the scriptures that are encouraging and full of sweet promises. The kind that wrap you up tight, like a down filled quilt, warming you from the inside out, hiding you away, safe from the elements. The kind that sprinkle kisses all over your checks, soft and tender, and you just know you are loved deeply, protected and shielded.

These are the scriptures that draw me in, they make my heart smile and I reflect on them often. Reminding myself of these precious promises have helped me through so many struggles. I keep them hidden deep within my heart so that I will have constant access to these awesome treasures. I have them highlighted in my bible, underlined and boxed in. I have sticky tabs with labels and I write them down in various places in my home so that they are always within reach. They are poetic and beautiful with the power to take your breath away, causing a fluttering of your heart. They are the solid rock that I stand on day in and day out, my fortress and my most Beloved is wrapped up within each of them.

But there is a flip side to this life and even when I am lost in the layers of His folds, tucked in tight and safe, there are still these nagging questions and I am just like the Psalmist that wrote “For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pangs in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride serves as their necklace; violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge with abundance; they have more than heart could wish. They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression; they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth.” (Ps. 73:3-9)

For pain and suffering are our constant companion, there is no escaping it. It is God’s people that I see hurting. The wicked seem to thrive and prosper while the righteous are oppressed, beat down and tied up. The news and social media are plastered with evil and it’s enough to make a person weary beyond all recompose. We live in scary times and the future looks bleak.

But it’s the scriptures that I seem to skim over time and time again that address this problem, if I would but pause for a moment and really see; both for the righteous and the wicked.

Being reminded of His presence and of His promises is a daily gift He gives to us, and I, through the Psalmist learn truth by way of the Lord’s prompting. And when the Psalmist came to the realization of this truth he spoke my heart, “Whom have I in heaven but You?And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.  My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Ps. 73:25-26

As for the wicked: “God is a just Judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” (Ps 7:11) And my gentle Daddy will someday stand up and say, “ENOUGH!” And He will bear His teeth and tear into the evil of this present time. “He will make them as a fiery oven in the time of His anger; He shall swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their offspring He shall destroy from the earth, and their descendants from among the sons of men. (Ps. 21:9-10)

And then . . . .

“He will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” Rev. 21:4

Someday . . . . .