A place of abundance? If I were to ask you if you were in a place of abundance what would you say?
On one hand, we are keenly aware, despite our internal cries for “more stuff”, that living in North America means we have a measure of abundance so many in the world can’t even dream about. Clean water – to drink, to take long hot showers in, and enough to throw around for fun. We have housing and if we don’t we have a system that catches us. The same with medical care. For the majority of us, we are able to stay warm and dry. There is meat in our freezers, food in our fridges and pantries. We have a choice of clothes – some of our dogs even have a choice of clothes!
Yet on the other hand, if I asked you “Do you live in a place of abundance?” I can almost see the tiredness in many of your eyes. The tension in your shoulders is real. Financial pressure is a real thing. We have all we “need” and yet we are missing a few things. Why do we not feel like we are in a place of abundance? What more could we possible need?
So many of us have a shortage of 3 things that make us feel we do not live in abundance:
-
Time.
There’s never enough time to do what I have on my to-do list. Even for the good stuff. We constantly have to trade “What I Really Want to Do” like spend time with the kids, or a friend in need for “What Has to be Taken Care of Now” like the doctor’s appointment or maintenance on the car.
-
Money.
There’s never enough money to do all the things I dream of doing. And I’m not just saying to spend on ourselves. Lots of us want to give to causes, and help people and solve issues but we are keenly aware there isn’t enough in our bank reserves to even begin.
-
Energy.
There’s never enough energy to do all I want to do in a week. I fall asleep and forget to answer that text, send that email and make that connection.
It’s frustrating to even think about. But wait. Sometimes all we need to do is switch on a light and things look different.
What If There is?
What if you adopt the idea that you have enough time to get done everything you were meant to do in this day?
What if you have the exact amount of money coming in to deal with what you are supposed to handle. What if that your lack of energy is perfectly acceptable and what you really need is a nap to restore body and soul.
What if, in God’s economy you begin to see things differently?
What if there is enough time in this day to do all that God has designed for you to do?
What if there is enough money to live responsibly and to give to that which you’re able? What if the limit is a blessing?
What if the energy I have is sufficient to accomplish what I am to accomplish in this week?
“You have brought us to a place of abundance.” It was written in a prayerbook in a time when they didn’t have running water, electronic calendars, and investment portfolios. (Psalms 66:12) If we lived in that place and time, we probably wouldn’t consider it a place of abundance!
“I have learned in whatever situation to be content.” Written from a prison by a guy whose purpose in life had been thwarted. Content? In a prison? A prison – a place of abundance? When looked at through the eyes of God, He had removed all distraction – given him blank walls and lonely spaces. His “place of abundance” seems sadly lacking and yet, from there he dictated literary works that have lasted almost 2000 years and carried this truth throughout the world. When you accept that God is in control, your place of “sadly lacking” and “not enough of anything” can be a place of abundance.
Flipping on that truth in my brain – that I have enough of everything I need for this day. I personally feel my shoulders untighten. I release the fret of not being able to measure to the latest crisis. I will still give but I’ll give what I can and spare myself the guilt. I’m lousy at all of this. I tend to like to view things through a lens of scarcity – I’m always behind, I never have enough, I can’t move or do fast enough to meet the piling demands. So I tense up. I hoard. I pile. I don’t have enough so I cling on to what I have. It’s time to think differently.
How have you been limited and what if you viewed those limits as a place of abundance? Could it be possible that you are limited in one area so you can fully give in another? What does a place of abundance look like for you? How would changing the lens that you view those things through change how you see your week?