Hi Friends, Happy (almost) New Year!
I’ve been counting my blessings and my lessons for the last three days and I’m back with the final installment.
Drum roll please….
Lesson #1: Scarcity is a mentality, not a reality.
In October God blessed me with a new vehicle, allowing me to replace my 13 year old, 250K mile car. This car, which I affectionately named Miss Magnolia, served my family faithfully for the last 10 and a half years. She saw us through road-trips and recitals, and everything in between. But it was time to say good-bye.
I know people buy, sell, and replace cars all the time, but there was something deeper that God wanted to teach me this time. The stability of the old vehicle and the gift of the new vehicle was a picture of God’s unfaltering provision and generosity. But it also represented the physical manifestation of some mindset shifts that had to take place in me.
I am a super practical person. I am frugal and don’t often make frivolous purchases. And this is not a bad thing. Most would argue this is actually a good thing. But what God revealed was that I had a poverty mentality masquerading as good stewardship. This not only showed in my spending patterns, but also my thought patterns. I had a scarcity mindset about me, what God could do through me and for me, and what I deserved and was worthy of. This was lurking deep in the recesses of my thinking, so much so I didn’t realize it was there.
Living below my means is a healthy financial discipline. But living below God’s means was an indication of fear, distrust, and faulty belief systems.
God is not a God of scarcity, lack, shortage, deficiency or meager means. He is a God of abundance, infinite supply, resourcefulness, and overflow. I had to adopt these Godly characteristics in my thought life and abandon those that were rooted in fear.
God not only upgraded my vehicle, He upgraded my mindset.
He didn’t just replace Miss Magnolia, he replaced my tight, confined scarcity mentality with a broad, expansive, and generous reality.
Friends, it has been a great year. No, it hasn’t been without disappointment. Yes, the enemy has fired shots and launched attacks. But in spite of them all, I can say like Joseph, that though it was intended to harm me, God used it for good.
I want to encourage you to spend some time today taking inventory of your blessings and lessons from 2021. Leave me a comment and let me know how you’ve seen God move, great or small. Let’s celebrate the year that was, and anticipate the year to come.
And if this lesson resonated with you and you think there may be traces of scarcity in your thinking, here is some soul food to help you break free.
Matthew 6:33 But make His Kingdom and righteousness your chief aim, and then these things shall all be given you in addition.
Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the LORD makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.
Proverbs 3: 9-10 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.
Proverbs 21:35 She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.
Proverbs 11:25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
Proverbs 13:21Disaster pursues sinners, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous.
Isaiah 60:16-17 Powerful kings and mighty nations will satisfy your every need, as though you were a child nursing at the breast of a queen. You will know at last that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel. I will exchange your bronze for gold, your iron for silver, your wood for bronze, and your stones for iron. I will make peace your leader and righteousness your ruler.
Psalm 16:6 The measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; Indeed, my inheritance is beautiful to me.
Psalm 18:19 His love broke open the way, and he brought me into a beautiful, broad place. He rescued me—because his delight is in me!
Living In The Light,