“LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” (Psalm 16:5-6)
Are you a fan of writer/director/producer/entertainment philosopher J.J. Abrams? If you have seen some of his work – the Star Trek movies, Lost, the Star Wars movie etc. – you may have noticed that he wants you to think really hard about time travel.
More specifically, he wants you to wrestle with the ages-old debates about whether our paths are predetermined or whether we might be able to change our destiny. It’s a fun bone to chew on, but it’s also one that leaves us asking some difficult personal questions.
If I could go back and change my past, would I? Is my “present reality” good enough? What is good? Should I accept things as they are or make every effort in my power to change my reality? If I had unlimited free will and unlimited power to change everything, would I make it better – or far worse? And, finally, what does any of this have to do with Psalm 16?
Only this: David said to the one true God: “You are the only source of good things in my life. I will choose to be content with whatever you give me today – to enjoy it, even – and to look forward to all the good things you’ll give me forever.”
Whatever the answer to all those sticky questions, David focused in this psalm on tuning his heart to God’s goodness – and left the past, present, and future up to his powerful, loving, trustworthy Father.
Think: Tell yourself the truth: Are you willing to trust God with how your life turns out today, with the good things you do and don’t end up with? Do you think you are a source of good; do you think you could create more good things in the universe if you could change the past, the present, or the future?
Pray: Thank God for what he has provided for you today, for your lot in life right in this moment. Ask him to help you to trust him to provide exactly what you need – and much much more – tomorrow and forever.
Do: Read Hebrews 13:4-6 and think about what sexual purity, contentment, and the love of money have to do with trusting the God of time.