(May 13, 2023) Mama Lava caringly shares a great truth…

Desperation will cause us to do crazy things! I have an embarrassing, but poignant, case in point.

Remember when Covid first hit? I saw an opportunity to do something I’d been wanting to do for a long time. I would begin baking my own bread. Not only would it be healthier than the alternative, but it would also save money and trips to the grocer. If you remember, the lines outside stores were long and cold, as they allowed only a few people in at a time.

I already had the ingredients I needed. Well, all except one. I needed yeast.

But… my grocery store didn’t have any. I realised many people were thinking like I was, spurred by the fact that bread had become difficult to find. The shelf was completely bare, and there was no assurance it would be restocked any time soon.

I went to Amazon for yeast. Also sold out? Interesting! I looked at my Sam’s Club (warehouse club for wholesale prices on top brands) app. They didn’t have any either. I started to panic a bit.

Desperation
I signed up for a notification from Sam’s Club for such time as they would have yeast back in stock. I also checked the app every day. It became a kind of obsession as I thought about all the things I could, would, and should bake – if only I had yeast.

Finally, several weeks later, I received a notification from Sam’s. They did not have any in my local store yet, but had some in a warehouse, and were willing to ship it to me. Its price reflected the low supply and high demand!

But I’d become desperate, erroneously imagining my family in dire straits, their very lives sustained only by my ability to make bread. I didn’t know if or when I’d be able to find it again. So I purchased two lots of 2lb.

Abudance
When they arrived, I felt foolish. The packages were huge! Almost a kilo each! I realised my desperation had led me to do a crazy thing. I wasn’t going to use all that yeast!

I asked my friends if they wanted some, but it was still early in the pandemic, and nobody knew if it was safe to take something from someone else’s home. I froze most of it after reading it might last longer at low temperatures. For as long as the lockdowns lasted, I only used a portion of that yeast!

But do you know what? I never did again after receiving so much! No more panicking about feeding my family. I no longer obsessed over having what I needed to make bread.

You see, that shipment switched my perspective. Instead of a position of desperation, I was suddenly coming from a position of abundance. I had more than enough.

Bread dough even felt like a promise of something good to come.

Assurance
It is an embarrassing story, but it highlights something I want to share with you here. When we are in a position of abundance, we relax. We turn our focus to what is actually important and we share freely and easily.

My precious friends, God has given us access to all He has! His children live in a position of assurance regarding abundance! For example… do we lack –

• Joy? He will give us our fill whenever we ask.
• Patience? (Yes, please!)
• Contentment? He has it in spades!
• Love? (Don’t we all need genuine love!)
• Wisdom? Oh wisdom! I need that. And I long to have it available to give to give to others!

You’ll find scriptures confirming God’s heart attitude to abundantly bless us when we have needs. Take wisdom for example… James 1:5 promises,  ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.’

God’s storehouse
This is open to us all! Do you know what that means? The abundance in which we live is inexhaustible. We don’t need to hoard, panic, or obsess over anything. And there is no reason to withhold.

God beckons us to approach, partake, and pass His resources around… especially acts of forgiveness, compassion and kindness! (Which He has to shown to us in abundance through His Son Jesus substitutionally dying on Calvary’s cross (John 3:16).

And He wants us to give freely with the knowledge that He has more than enough for everyone. The more we give, the more He rewards and replenishes. Luke 6:38 encourages, ‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’

What is it that you need today? God has it! What are you reticent to give? God has more than enough to go around!

My dear friend, if you are a child of God, you have access to everything He has. You never have to be driven by desperation. You are in a position of abundance.

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Mama Lava believes in making the big world a bit smaller through connection. Believing that everybody deserves to be wrapped in maternal love when they need it, she regularly shares encouragements… telling life experiences from an unapologetically Christian viewpoint the way she sees it, just as a mother does. Link: Mama Lava’s Back Porch (A Dose of Maternal Love).
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