Lot in Life

 

O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot.

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.

     Psalm 16:5-6

The phrase “my lot in life” often has a negative connotation—implying that we don’t like our circumstances in life but we’re resigned to them.  But the Bible has a different perspective.  Our lot in life comes from the Lord, from His gracious hand. The Lord allocates to us a portion of a glorious inheritance when we put our faith in Christ and He is our cup, all we need.  So we we can trust His plans and purposes to bring what's best for us.

Of course, that does not mean all our circumstances will seem favorable to us. God may allow something to “run aground” (Acts 27:26) that we’ve put our hearts and soul into, thinking it was His will. We can expect pruning, a sharp cutting off of even good things in our lives (John 15:2), so that we might bear more fruit for God’s glory. We may not experience poverty or disease, but God often permits us to suffer some kind of loss in our lives, the withdrawal of something we valued, according to His good reasons.

We may feel that something is missing in our life.  But Scripture assures us that God knows our needs (Matthew 6:8) and that He supplies each one (Phil. 4:19). So we are to be content with what we have, trusting that if more is needed or if something different would be best for us, our gracious Lord will so provide.  Contentment is a wonderful blessing that comes from trusting Him and believing the He makes no mistakes.

He Maketh No Mistake, a poem written in 1932 by Pastor A.M. Overton.