The Only Way Forward Is Back by Jackson TerKeurstਨਮੂਨਾ

MORE THAN ENOUGH

When you think about typical American teenagers, you assume that friends and fun take up the most space in their minds. My brother, Mark, and I were anything but typical American teens when we came to the United States and were adopted. We were children of war trying to find our place in a new country. We were surrounded by an overwhelming amount of stuff, but we had no way of knowing if things like housing and food could disappear like they had in our past.

One day, my mom went to cook pork tenderloin and couldn’t find the meat. Where was it hiding? Underneath Mark’s bed, completely rotten. Mark was just doing what he had always done to ensure he didn’t starve.

Do you ever find yourself caught up in a scarcity mindset as a child of God?

We hoard our love and trust and keep a suspicious eye on anyone prophesying good news. We don’t want to get our hopes up because what if God doesn’t come through? What if Jesus decides tomorrow that He wants to give us less?

Yet spiritual scarcity isn’t possible with Christ because we live in His land of abundance. As adopted children of God, we have access to all of heaven. Like the older brother in the story of the prodigal son, we find ourselves mad at our heavenly Father for holding out on us. God replies to us now just as He did to the brother then, “You are always with me, and everything I have is yours” (Luke 15:31).

Did you notice that word? Everything. All the resources of our Father’s house are right at our fingertips, overflowing for eternity. They will never run out.

The remedy for a scarcity mindset is learning to walk in abundance. Not an abundance of stuff (or pork tenderloin) but of love, acceptance, patience, forgiveness, and safety.

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Child of God, live the abundant, full life you were meant for. There is always more than enough at Jesus’s table.

Lord, show me the ways I have a scarcity mindset instead of receiving the abundant life You offer. I don’t want to live out of fear but out of gratitude, joy, and thankfulness. Amen.