Scarcity vs. Abundance

I have been thinking a lot lately about scarcity vs. abundance. It has become more and more clear to me that most of the world's conflicts are spurred on by the philosophy of scarcity. If we only believe there is enough to go around for a limited number than we are likely to be fearful, greedy, racist and prideful. I have seen this both in my personal life and on the world stage.

When my patients need help if I were to believe I only have 20 minutes of time and a limited amount of emotional energy then the office visit becomes impossible. If I go into the room believing that God will give me the tools I need at the appropriate time then the impossible becomes possible. If I learn to draw my energy from above then God can use me as the healing instrument.

When I play with my kids and all three of us believe that we have to split my love and attention in half then there arises great conflict and jealousy. For some reason experiencing God's abundance with my kids is much more difficult than in any other area of my life. Perhaps it is because they only can understand love in portions or maybe because my own fears and anxieties are so much greater when dealing with them.

What I do know is that God's abundance is not the same as our idea of abundance. Our idea of abundance is chopping, stacking, planting and sowing. Our idea of abundance is the parable of the ant and the grasshopper. That is, if you don't store up and work all summer then you won't eat. Jesus told a different parable, one of feeding 5000 people with just a few loaves of bread and a few small fish. Somewhere therein must lie a balance between industry and grace. Is it possible to live in these two worlds. That is what I am trying to figure out. Stay tuned...