I want more.
There. I said it. And I don’t feel bad about it. It’s true.
I used to feel bad about wanting more. So bad that I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, and I would silently shame myself for even having those feelings. I assumed wanting more = greedy, ungrateful, discontent.
And it certainly can. But not saying it out loud doesn’t make the feelings go away. You know they’re there. God knows they’re there. May as well own it.
There’s been a lot of talk about ‘the scarcity mindset’ lately.
You’ve heard it, I’m sure. It’s functioning out of a perceived state of lack, which basically becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and you end up right where you thought you were to begin with.
Author Lynne Twist describes it perfectly:
For me, and for many of us, our first waking thought of the day is “I didn’t get enough sleep.” The next one is “I don’t have enough time.” Whether true or not, that thought of not enough occurs to us automatically before we even think to question or examine it. We spend most of the hours and the days of our lives hearing, explaining, complaining or worrying about what we don’t have enough of . . . We don’t have enough exercise. We don’t have enough work. We don’t have enough profits. We don’t have enough power. We don’t have enough wilderness. We don’t have enough weekends. Of course, we don’t have enough money – ever.
We’re not thin enough, we’re not smart enough, we’re not pretty enough or fit enough or educated or successful enough, or rich enough – ever. Before we even sit up in bed, before our feet touch the floor, we’re already inadequate, already behind, already losing, already lacking something. Any by the time we go to bed at night, our minds race with a litany of what we didn’t get, or didn’t get done that day. We go to sleep burdened by those thoughts and wake up to the reverie of lack. . . . What begins as a simple expression of the hurried life, or even the challenged life, grows into the great justification for an unfulfilled life.
I remember the first time I read that. How I almost always thought those two exact things when I woke up in the mornings. The automatic nature of those thoughts horrified me. What am I talking about? I have plenty! Of everything!
But I know that’s not my default. Somewhere deep in my heart where I don’t see unless I’m really looking, I want more. Of everything.
And when it comes to scarcity, most of us talk in hyperbole. Rarely is it, “I don’t have enough time.” It’s often, “I have no time.”
These phrases are past cliché; they are vernacular. Spoken as fact.
And we all know that you only have to lie to yourself (and others) so many times before you start believing it, and living if it were true.
It’s a common complaint from coaching clients: “I have no time to do the things I love.” And I gently try to redirect toward, “You DO have time. You HAVE it. You just don’t know where it is. Let’s go find it.” And we inevitably do.
Same with money. I’ll talk to someone who has some debt they want to get rid of but they ‘don’t have any money to put toward it.’ Well, they actually do. Because they have money for Starbucks and gym memberships. (And life coaching. Hee-hee.)
God loves to use what little we have and make it into a miracle.
The fish and the loaves that fed five thousand.
The dust of the ground that became a man.
The staff that turned into a snake.
The shepherd boy who took down the giant.
The broken bodies that were healed.
The dead bodies that were brought back to life.
(Read that last one again. Dead. Roadkill dead. Cemetery dead. Four-days dead. The resurrection stories in the Bible are so familiar that we often miss the gravity of the situation. Think of the last funeral you went to. THAT kind of dead, brought back to life. Now. Let that sink in. Yeah. Blows your mind, doesn’t it? Good. It’s supposed to.)
God is ALL ABOUT stories like that because they let us contribute to the cause. It’s God letting us work with Him in the miracle. It strengthens our faith and our connection to our all-loving, all-powerful Father.
So you give your widow’s mite. You bring your fish and bread. You surrender it into the mighty hands of the Creator of the universe. And suddenly it’s enough. More than enough. Abundant, even.
The truth is, if I really look at what I’m telling myself (and others), I have more than I think I do. I have enough time to get lost in Facebook for 30 minutes at a time. I have enough money to get a fountain Diet Coke from McDonald’s whenever I want (my version of Starbucks).
I have time. I have money. I just don’t always know where it is. But if I look for it, I can find it.
I need to stop saying I don’t have anything. That’s hardly ever true. I even need to stop saying I don’t have enough. Because I usually do. Almost always, in fact.
But then there are other times.
When we actually have nothing. No more. Nothing left to work with.
Sometimes we had it, but we ran out of it. Sometimes we never had it at all.
The relationship didn’t fall apart. It never got off the ground.
Your confidence didn’t fade. You don’t remember ever having any.
The pregnancy wasn’t lost. It never began.
Your health didn’t deteriorate. You were born with this disease.
Sometimes there just isn’t anything. And, even more hopeless, there never was.
Lord, in this area, I’ve got nothing. No rocks to turn into bread. No water to turn into wine. Nothing to multiply or heal or work with.
(Loving smile.) Not a problem.
Yes, God likes to work with what we’ve got. And it’s not for Him. He doesn’t need our help. It’s for OUR benefit. To participate in bringing the kingdom and have a front row seat to His miraculous work.
But thankfully, our lack doesn’t limit Him. Wanna know why?
Ex nihilo. It’s a Latin phrase for ‘out of nothing.’
It’s commonly used to describe God’s creation of, well, everything.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:1-3).
Look around. Everything you see has been made. Maybe not from the hand of God Himself, but from man, who was made of the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). And the dust was part of the earth that was created by our Creator. Out of nothing.
For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen (Romans 11:36).
So bring what you have, to be sure. And if you think you have nothing, double check. Chances are good that you do have something, you just don’t know where it is. Find it. And bring it to the King. Let Him make it enough.
But on those rare occasions you have nothing?
Bring your nothing.
Lord, in this area, I have nothing.
I have no love for that person.
I have no desire to keep fighting the good fight.
I have no ability to change my own heart.
I have no strength to carry this load.
I have no idea what to do next.
And the God of heaven, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who nothing is impossible for, leans in close to his broken son or daughter.
It’s okay, My child. You may have nothing. But I have everything. I AM everything. And the truth is, I don’t need anything from you to work a miracle. I can create starting with nothing at all. And My power is made perfect in weakness. Be still. Watch this. And know that I AM God.
And to be sure, He never promises us a miracle every time we ask. But we should always ask. And for heaven’s sake, don’t let your nothing keep you from asking.
His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). And our limits set the stage for Him to show Himself strong.
Maybe there’s not enough. Or just not enough for you. God may be trying to teach you contentment and gratitude. You may have enough, you just need to find it. Or He may just be waiting for you to ask for more. So He can give you more.
Or maybe you’re truly facing the reality of nothing in your current situation. Run to your Father and ask for the Ex Nihilo Special. Because while He loves for us to ‘help’ Him at His work, He also loves to give His children good gifts and meet their needs in miraculous ways. Tell Him you have nothing and wait for the smile.
I can work with that.
