I recently watched a music awards show long enough to see Janet Jackson receive an icon award. She acknowledged our Creator in her acceptance speech, proclaiming that “…everything we lack, God has in abundance.” I couldn’t agree more. So many times, we struggle while operating within our limited abilities and perspective. We are immersed in the logical and tangible, navigating in ways that make sense to us. We cling tightly to our fears, frustrations, and established patterns of failure instead of releasing them to our all-seeing, all-knowing, limitless heavenly Father.

We unknowingly invite a Spirit of Lack to cloud our perspective. We make decisions based on fear of not having enough love, money, time, energy, patience, cooperation, approval, etc. The scariest thing about the Spirit of Lack is that we can unknowingly invite it into our lives. A Spirit of Lack is very dangerous because it can serve as a gateway to usher in other evil spirits to further attack your mind and lead to feelings of hopelessness and defeat.  Sometimes, even once it’s identified, the thought of vanquishing that spirit seems impossible.

However, according to Luke 1:37 “ For nothing will be impossible with God.” We do not have to tolerate feelings of shortage or defeat. Lack does not have to be a permanent fixture in our lives. Although He can, I’m not saying that God will immediately remove our challenges. However, if we ask, He will help us apply a different lens so that we view our lives through a filter of abundance instead of lack. Instead of fixating on what we don’t have, He will show us what we do have – the innumerable blessings that we take for granted. We can move forward with a keen awareness of those blessings, a renewed understanding of how very precious we are to God. Isaiah 43:19 says “Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.” No matter how dire the situation, God is always with us. Hebrews 13:5 says “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”” Furthermore, our God is one of restoration. I’m a living witness that God is not only capable of replenishing what we previously lost but He often replaces it with something far better. Years ago, I lost everything on the ground floor of my home in a flood. During that crisis, the Lord taught me valuable lessons that deepened my trust His provision, favor, and restoration. God can use a loss to increase of faith. When we place our trust in Him, we can live a life of freedom and abundance because we can trust Him to handle the challenge of each day as well as all of our tomorrows.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” -James 1:2-4