Babies are unable to eat more than we give them. We measure their ideal portion and put it in a bottle and try to get them to finish it all. If they cry out in hunger, we increase the measure so they consume exactly what it takes to fill them up at each feeding. As they grow, they need more. Eventually, they grow into pureed food, then finger foods, then grown-up food. It becomes increasingly more difficult to control their intake. By the time they are teenagers we usually lose control over their portions and what they are eating. They now have the choice to eat healthy the way they were taught or to exercise their new freedom to splurge on the fast food and the junk foods that tempt them at every turn.
Every day we are tempted by things that are not good for us. Even though we are given every thing we need, we exercise our freedom to overindulge or make unwise choices. When we stray from the Lord's portion for us
, we manifest all sorts of trouble for ourselves. We incur health issues from carrying too much weight, eating diets with little nutritional value, and over indulging in substances that are unhealthy such as processed sugars. excessive alcohol, and tobacco. Why are we not satisfied with our portions?
Watching horses eating at a round bale is a course in "the grass is always greener in another horse's mouth." You would think a 1500 pound round bale would be enough to keep four horses satisfied. But they will nip and push and drive others away from their spot to get to a spot they think looks more appealing. The boss mare shoves over the second in the line, who moves over the next, and they move around the bale until the last horse has come full circle. They pick through the bale and throw the hay out of the hay ring searching for a better mouthful than the one they had. Eventually half of the bale is on the ground being soiled and trampled, when every blade of that hay was of equal value when they started.
Even when you are able to limit the portions of hay you give to each horse in a stall, they pick through it and leave half of it on the ground to be soiled and trampled. As a good provider, a ranch manager will measure out the hay each horse should get to maintain an ideal weight. This isn't possible when a horse is on a round bale in the pasture. Pasture horses often develop what is known as a "hay belly" by standing around the hay ring gorging endlessly on the round bale. In the stall when a loose portion is given, it is devoured quickly. Then horses still wanting more than they need will chew on the stall walls and wood like large termites.
To help keep a horse satisfied, some ranch managers use slow feed hay nets. These help slow down a horse's consumption and imitate a more natural consumption rate of foraging. An additional benefit of the slow feed hay net is that when hay is dropped on the ground, the horse will eat it first because it is easier to get to. This keeps the hay from being trampled and soiled. Hay can be weighed out in the proper daily portions and placed in the hay net. Even the dust that causes flare ups of COPD, other respiratory ailments, and allergies is eliminated. Despite all these benefits from the ranch manager's point of view, some horses still get frustrated and fight the delivery of hay in a slow feed net. Eventually most of them get used to it and look forward to their daily portions. If only we could look forward to our daily portions from the Lord. Instead of chewing slowly and enjoying them, we gobble them down without tasting their flavor. When our daily portion is gone, we hardly noticed it was there and we look around for more. Consuming more than we need we end up bloated and miserable; unsatisfied by that which was chosen and assigned specfically for us.
God holds and maintains our lot. Like a ranch manager using the slow feed hay net, He choses and assigns our portion. Slow down, take time to enjoy what you have been given. Trust that you have been given all that you need. Let the Lord fill you up, let Him be your cup, your portion. There is nothing else that you need.
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