Abundance

Abundance

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

RESTLESSLY, I scrolled through websites on my phone. We’d just finished the bones of renovating the room above the garage, separating it into a bedroom for our daughter on one side and a home office on the other. But the renovations had left me with new spaces to fill, which is why I was up late looking for the perfect literary print to place in our new book nook in the office and dreaming about a desk for Elise’s room. Finally deciding I should wait to purchase anything, I set my phone aside and went to bed.

I adore shopping. But it can be a challenge, sometimes, not to use it as a crutch. I’ve mindlessly looked at websites to escape after a long day. I’ve reconsidered areas of my house after noticing, with envy, someone else’s gorgeous home. It’s hard not to fall into the trap of looking longingly at something I don’t need, even though I know it will just become one more piece of clutter.

As people who can order items to arrive on our doorstep with the click of a couple buttons, realigning our desires with God’s priorities often means shifting our mindset from one of scarcity to abundance. In a scarcity mindset, we don’t have enough: enough time, enough talents, enough possessions. Scrambling to grasp what we feel is missing, we fill the empty places in our hearts and homes with temporary treasures. But when we shift to truly believing the second part of Psalm 23:1—“the LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need”—we can experience the abundant life Jesus promised. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, and the new life we have because of it, we have more than enough.

Abundance comes from the word abound, traced to the Latin abundare, which means “overflow.” Abundare is formed by ab, which means “from” and undare, which means “surge” (from unda, “a wave”). This word picture illustrates the depths of the abundance God has promised: not a trickle, but a deluge. The abundant life—one focused on God’s plan and purpose—fills us to overflowing in a way that the material possessions of this world can never satisfy.

Lord, help us to see that—in you—we can have an abundant life. Amen.

-Kristin

One Good Step: Do you find yourself focusing on gratitude for what you have or longing for more? Does your answer reveal a scarcity mindset or an abundance mindset?