Are you living with a scarcity mindset? Do you find yourself thinking that there’s never going to be enough of whatever that “thing” is that you need? Maybe that thing is the fear of insufficient finances, time, physical strength, or good health. The belief that there is a shortage of what you desire and that these desires can’t be sufficiently met, is called a scarcity mindset.
A few mornings ago, I was in the kitchen chatting with my daughters and getting breakfast ready for the family. The girls were busy making their lunches for school which is something they do almost every morning. Their school does provide lunch options and snacks, but they prefer to take their own. However, they do enjoy getting a rice krispy treat or some other sugary decadence that they probably don’t tell me about, from the school’s cafeteria on occasion. In order to do this, we have to put money in their lunch accounts to purchase these items.
That particular morning they mentioned that their accounts were empty and asked if we could put some money in them. Unbeknownst to them, I had already done that about a month earlier so there was plenty of money available for a treat or two. The catch was I hadn’t told them I’d done it. I replied to their request with a smile and then let them in on my little secret.
Their incredulous looks on their faces and their response was classic, “What? Mom! We had no idea that we had money in our accounts! We thought they were empty. Man, we could have gotten stuff this whole time!” Yep. That’s the scarcity mindset.
Unfortunately we often make this mistake ourselves, but on a much larger scale. We live our lives in fear of not having enough, when all the while everything we could ever need is sitting in a heavenly storehouse ready to be distributed by a Father who loves us. We walk around scraping together what we can see and living short of the abundant life God desires us to have.
Psalm 50:9 says, “I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and all the insects in the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.”
Everything is the Lord’s, and His abundance is more than anything we can fathom. Second Corinthians 9:8 confirms this when it says, “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” God not only provides, He provides abundantly more than what we think we need. So instead of giving us a $5 gift card to Starbucks, He has the ability to give you the Breville Oracle Touch Espresso Machine that you can have at your own home! (Sorry, I may be channeling my husband’s inner desires at the moment.)
How do we unlock the abundance of God and stop living with a scarcity mindset?
- Seek God
Earnestly seek the heart and wisdom of God. This looks like spending time with him in prayer and studying His word.
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Psalm 84:11 “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
- Ask!
My girls asked me for what they needed, and because I love them and didn’t feel like their request was something that could harm them, I granted it. (Even though I may regret that if they consistently come home with a sugar high.)
Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
- Trust
If you don’t believe He can do it, you’re not living in the fullness of your faith. Faith is having confidence in something we can’t see. You have to TRUST that He can provide.
Psalm 37:3-6 “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Stop believing that what you need isn’t available to you. His blessings are like the waves in the ocean. They’re powerful, abundant, and sometimes unpredictable. That provision and blessing may not come in the way you think or in the timing that you want, but God will never leave you nor forsake you.
He is Jehovah-Jireh. The God who PROVIDES.
