SELF-IMPOSED SCARCITY

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"Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord ." Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, "Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
Haggai 1:2‭-‬6 ESV

¶These were a people living with an attitude of scarcity. Coming out of slavery and exile, nothing was enough to make them feel secure. Even now, living in the comfort of the homes they had managed to build, in the prosperity they had achieved, what they had was never enough. They had no time to worship a God who offered Himself alone as their reward. They needed gods of fertility and prosperity. For people locked in that kind of fear, abundance, and the freedom to enjoy it, never arrive. We are all equipped with personal gifts and talents for a purpose. Still today, victims of trauma may find their way to success blocked by feelings of hopelessness, bitterness, and fear of failure. We still need the Good News of our acceptance in the Beloved to unlock our shackles. The One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who arrays the lilies of the field with clothing greater than Solomon in all his glory, wants us to receive what He provides not with a fearful attitude of scarcity, but with an attitude of abundance and generosity.

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