"If the Lord was all you had, would He be enough?"
A question that burdened me as I read through the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy and then reaffirmed in a story that stood out to me in Judges.
Throughout the Old Testament, the Tribes of Israel were promised portions of land that they would possess once they entered the Promise Land, as an inheritance from the Lord.
The list of Tribe inheritances were lengthy and the Lord was so gracious and generous with them as He gave them land, in studying, I came across these verses...
In Deuteronomy 18:1-2 it says:
“The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, will have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They will eat the Lord’s food offerings; that is their inheritance. Although Levi has no inheritance among his brothers, the Lord is his inheritance, as He promised him."
the Lord is his inheritance
When I initially read this, it surprised me. They had no inheritance with Israel, but the Lord was their inheritance. This meant that they would eat from the Lord's food offerings, they would have cities within the territories of other tribes, but not their own, and that they would spend their lives being provided for by The Lord Himself.
In Numbers 18:20 its says:
The Lord told Aaron, “You will not have an inheritance in their land; there will be no portion among them for you. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites."
As I placed myself in the shoes of a Levite, standing in the heat of the day, listening to those words, I began to wonder what they might have been thinking or feeling while everyone else was getting their portion of land and their inheritance, a physical, visible inheritance.
The Levites, were the priests of the Lord. They were in charge of the Tabernacle and the offerings and that's how they were to be provided for. They were compensated by the Lord through the tithes for their service to Him.
As I did further research I came across this quote:
"God was the unique inheritance to the Levites. He was the focus of their service, the source of their sustenance, and the significance of their calling. Their inheritance included cities, daily food, and a constant vocation, but it did not include the same type of land inheritance given to the other tribes of Israel." (gotquestions.org)
As beautiful as the reality of this is, the mentality of the Levites really had to be on things above and not the things of this earth to be fully satisfied. The Lord could offer Himself, but if the Levites were distracted, or longing for the physical land or the physical blessing, then this reward, a life of service to the Lord and Him being their completion, provider, and sustainer would have not been enough for them. They wouldn't have been satisfied because they would have been longing for other things.
And this is where the question: if the Lord was all I had, would He be enough began to plague my heart, question my motives and challenge my walk.
If The Lord was all you had, would He be enough?
If I never got married, would He be enough?
If I never got to live out my dreams, would He be enough?
If I lost all of my friends and family, would He be enough? (This is a tough one to even write!)
If nobody ever read my writing, would He be enough?
If I never got to go into the mission field, would He be enough?
If I never have a baby, would He be enough?
If my business is never successful, would He be enough?
Ya'll those are hard questions, but they are real and they will challenge your faith. They will challenge your mentality, your vision, your purpose.
Would you be satisfied if God was all that you had?
God + nothing.
In reality, a life of God + nothing is the life we were created for, but when sin entered the world, our relationship with God was tainted, and so we displaced God in our lives and our hearts began to place other things and people on the throne. The consequence is that now, we have to intentionally place our trust, hope, and satisfaction in God because our natural inclination is to search for all else that we think will satisfy. We must be purposeful to "set our minds on things above, not on earthly things" (Col. 3:2).
You might be thinking, okay, Valerie, but it's 2021 and I'm only a Christian, and not a Levite.
My response for you would be this... You may not be a Levite, but as a Christian, you are provided with the same as the Levitical priests. The Lord is still your provider. The Lord is still your portion, even if you never get what others get. Even if you're never rich. Even if you never get married. Even if you never buy a house. Even if you never have a baby. Even if you LOST everything. God is STILL enough.
Whether you experience freedom and true contentment in that is dependent on your obedience and surrender to him...
Coming up on the next blog post, I will share a story with you about a Levite that found God not to be enough for him and the consequences he faced when he went searching for anyone and anything outside of what God had for him.
I encourage you to ask yourself this question today.... If God was all I had, would He be enough? Be honest, and if the answer is NO, then I encourage you to ask yourself why? Take your worries and your burdens before Him. Tell to Him that you want to trust that He IS enough for you!
The beauty of the Lord is that whether you believe Him to be enough or not, HE IS. Your opinion of Him doesn't change His essence. He is GOOD. He is ENOUGH.
You are Divinely Loved,
Valerie
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