Moving From Scarcity To Abundance

For the next 40 days I’m going to let go of this fear and grab hold of God's words of promise. I am going to live life, and to live it abundantly knowing the scales of God’s blessings and grace are balanced in my favor.

I hate playing Monopoly with my wife. She cheats. Not really but she's always doing something sneaky in order to win the game.

One of her favorite tricks is to hide money so eveyone playing thinks she has less than she really does. It's a strategy designed to retaliate against anyone who tries to take advantage of your "lack of money." It's smart way to manipulate the game in your favor. 

How many times in your life have you hidden things from people so you don't have to share them? I'm notorious for doing this with Girl Scout cookies. They only come around once a year, and I only have so much. It's not very kind. Nor is it very healthy. But I don't want to run out.

​At least I'm not like those people who like to take and hide all the good and great things of the world so the scales tilt in their favor.  

With that said, I know there are  some people who do that because they feel they are lacking. Maybe you feel like you don’t have enough or that it’s not fair that others get while you go without.  There are many reasons why we humans feel the need to hoard our stuff instead of share it with others. As I type this, my Monopoly cheating spouse is out donating clothes, toys, and board games to those who need them more than we do. Helping others move from scarcity to abundance.

This is the focus of my fast this Lenten season. I have challenged myself to fast from the fear and worry of “scarcity” in order that I might grow in my understanding to feast on “abundance.”  My kids just stared blankly at me when I told them what I was doing. And you may be wondering yourself why on earth I wouldn't just give up cussing or over eating at dinner. 

The thing is, I often don't feel like I have enough, or that I am going to run out. There is some truth to it. As I write, and as my Monopoly cheating wife is out donating, the stock market is plummeting. I'm watching all our gains over the last year simply bleed out. But today, I have a home, food, and so much more. Yet... 

I'm sure a good shrink could tell me why I have this fear of scarcity. Why I feel like I don't have enough. What I do know is that it has crippled me in more ways than I can express here. For whatever reason,And the more I aquire the more I need. It's a vicious cycle. And so I will focus the next 40 days

Whether it’s a real need or an illusion,  I have spent a lifetime chasing after more. More love, more sex, more food, more work, more people to minister to, more likes on Facebook, and more friends to feel more liked, love or important. This mentality hasn’t really worked in my life any better than it works in society.  

More often than not, it causes us to hold tightly on to things that may or may not be good to hold on to.  Crippling fears and anxieties, rage and anger, hurts that take up valuable time and space in us, stunting our spiritual and mental growth. Yet we hold on to this junk; making it a god that takes instead of gives abundantly. 

Think about all the counties that hoard natural resources, fearing they will run out. Worse, they use their supply as bargaining chips to control or oppress others who are in need. Across our own nation, there are thousands of solos filled with wheat that American farmers are paid to hoard to protect its market value while people in the world starve. 

When we feel this fear of never having enough, we will do anything to claim it or hold on to it. But eventually people will cheat or simply take what they need or feel they lack. And will do so using any means necessary. I don't want to have this feeling of scarcity in me. I don't like what it makes me feel like, or what I am afraid I might do. 

For the next 40 days I’m going to let go of this fear and grab hold of God's words of promise. I am going to live life, and to live it abundantly knowing the scales of God’s blessings and grace are balanced in my favor. Stacked and piled high with God’s great abundance which is all at my disposal. In this I know I am not without but always within God’s love and longing for me. Knowing that God longs for me, I know that God is looking out for me. And if God is looking out for me, then I have all that God gives to me in this very moment. 

This is why I am going (need) to fast from this idea of scarcity and focus on the abundancethat is already given to me. I have all I need for this moment - my daily bread. I invite you to do the same. Maybe in the end of the 40 days  we’ll have a better answer about what to do about being more abundant humans locally, nationally, and globally.