“The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.” Psalm 16:5
Image by Anemone123 from Pixabay
The NIV reads “Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup, you have made my lot secure.”
August has been a very busy month, and I have been blessed to spend a lot of time with family. We had not all been together for five years, and what a great time we had, reminiscing on the past. We shared stories of good times and some not-so-good. We played games, ate together, and laughed a lot. This past weekend we were all together at the wedding of my oldest grandson and what a beautiful experience that was.
I am so thankful for the family that the Lord has given me and for their respect and care for me. I truly am blessed beyond measure. As I look back over my life, I can see how it has been orchestrated by God.
In my devotional time this morning, I read Romans 8:28 in The Passion Translation: “We are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose.”
As this verse in Psalms 16, says, the Lord has a plan and a purpose for each one of us. He has placed children in our lives according to His plan. We do not know from the beginning how our children will turn out. Mary had a bit of insight into what the future held, but she had no idea that her son, Jesus, would end up on a Roman cross. Elizabeth in her joy when John was born, could not foresee that he would be beheaded for his ministry. Hannah, who gave Samuel to the work of the Lord, probably never dreamed that he would become such a great leader in Israel.
There comes a time when our children want to spread their wings and fly. No longer do they think Mother is always right and may go in directions we would not choose. We must not let the devil tell us we are a failure, we put them in God’s hand, and we must leave them there because He knows best.
Those of us who have raised our families often think back and wonder if maybe we should have done things differently. But we cannot change the past nor can we undo the mistakes we made. Despite our faults and failures, the Lord is working all things together for our good. The one who placed these children in our care loves them more than we do and is perfectly able to look after them.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, direct our steps today, and when the day comes that we stand before your throne, may we hear you say, “Well done, you accepted the assignment I gave you, you did your best, now enter into the joy of the Lord.”
Devotion by Anne Johnston
8 Comments
Such a wonderful devotion today. Yes, our children are truly an inheritance from the Lord. He has blessed both you and me with wonderful families.
Thank you, Fern. Yes, we are so blessed.
Thank you for this encouragement. I am always blaming myself, at least in part, for my sons not currently living for God. I do feel like the Lord told me He has redeemed my failures. My husband and I look forward to the day when our 3 boys surrender to Jesus.
Marie, I am glad this was an encouragement to you. I have one son who is not serving the Lord, but I know God is in control, and am just trusting Him. We do the best we can while they are still at home but once they become adults, we cannot change them. Just keep trusting the Lord. God bless you.
Thank you for that reminder. I have always known that God loves my children more than I even could but I definitely cannot comprehend that love. I’m at a point in my life of empty nesting. I raised my children in church on apostolic altars and did the absolute best that I could. I was married for very many years to their father, who did not have the same goals in life, and was not faithful to his marriage vows.
There has been a lot of hurt and many deep wounds that now need the master physician to heal. I have a strained relationship and I’ve not seen one of my daughters or a new grandchild.
Through all of the hurt, I still know that everything is in God’s hand.
Mona, I am so sorry that you are facing these wounds. The Lord understands what you are going through. It is hard to understand why our children turn their backs on what we have taught them, but once they are adults we no longer can control them. We pray and leave them in the hands of the Lord. He can do so much more than we can. Keep praying and trusting.
❤️
Thank you, Barbara.