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Abundance, By Gary Womack


ABUNDANCE

We are surrounded with abundance but are mostly blind to it. There is a significant reason for that, which is not necessarily directly our own fault, but primarily due to the fact that we are finite beings and are therefore limited accordingly in our perspective. That is not to say that God has made us blind to the abundance of our surroundings, but that we do not relate well to the resources of the eternal Creator of all things. Therefore, it is necessary for Him to help us to open our eyes to the great abundance of His creation by capturing our attention through His inspired word.
Abundance, according to Webster, is "Great plenty; more than sufficient quantity. Wealth." Such a simple definition fails to comprehend such a broad subject. Abundance is best defined by that which it embodies. Take for example the universe and listen to its declaration of abundance. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world." (Psm. 19:1-4) By their very existence they declare what abundance is by pointing to their Creator. Our concept of such a One, whose power and abundance could conceive and create with such magnitude, is limited by our finite nature. Therefore, He directs our attention to the abundance of His handiwork in order that we expand the limits of our thinking to comprehend His greatness. "'To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?' says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing." (Isa. 40:25-26)
When Abraham could not comprehend God's unlimited ability to give him and Sarah the child He had promised, God "...brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants be.'" (Gen. 15:5) It was not until Abraham was pointed to the abundance of God's creation that he could comprehend such ability and therefore believe in the Lord. The result was God's accounting of such faith as righteousness. The accounting of such blessings ultimately rested upon the observation of abundance in order to comprehend the greatness of its Creator.
Later, we see Abraham's mature faith demonstrated in his willingness to carry out the sacrifice of that same child of promise. (Gen. 22) When he was stopped short of executing his son, God stated His pleasure in Abraham's faith and reiterated His promise; "...in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." (Gen. 22:17-18) We are all blessed as a result of Abraham's faith and his willingness to see God's abundance in order to drive that faith to its obedient fruition.
We might question our own faith when we compare it to that of Abraham's and consider the magnitude of such a sacrifice. How can we demonstrate that kind of faith in our own lives? The answer to that question is: Our faith must be established in the same way that Abraham's was. It must be established on the foundation of God's unlimited greatness to accomplish His will. The way that we must do that is to look at the abundance around us and draw on that realization. God's word forever points our attention to the abundance of His power, His mercy and His grace. Read it. Meditate upon it. If we fail to look at God's abundance, we limit the outcome of our small faith. How many great works have gone unaccomplished because we failed to consider the abundance of God's ability to work in us?
Remember, He "...is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" (Eph. 3:20) That being the case, it is incumbent upon us to be reminded of the abundance of His ability and be motivated by His power to accomplish that which we otherwise would consider impossible. Thankfully, we are not called upon to make the kind of sacrifice that Abraham was called upon to make. However, we have been given a great work to accomplish which demands great faith. That work is the spreading of the gospel to a world lost in sin. As we view ourselves as only a handful of people in the midst of millions of lost souls, that work seems overwhelming and an impossible task. If our focus is on our limited numbers, or on a lack of financial resources, or on the limitations of the facility where we meet, or on any number of other obstacles that we can find, then the accomplishment of our mission will be limited accordingly. What we must constantly be mindful of is that God is not limited. Listen to Paul's admonition; "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, have an abundance for every good work." (2 Cor. 9:8) The grace that he speaks of is the supply of that which we lack. It is that part which we must depend on Him to supply. It is not our responsibility to try to figure out how He is going to supply it. If we busy ourselves in that futile task, then we are not focusing on His abundance, but rather, we are focusing on the limitations of our own thinking.
When the Israelites stood on the threshold of the promised land, and heard news of a land flowing with milk and honey, their attention was drawn away from the abundance of that which God was ready to give to them, and their faith was shaken as their attention was drawn only to the giant people and the fortified, walled cities that they viewed as insurmountable obstacles. (Num. 13) Let us not repeat their fatal mistake. If God has given us a work to do, be assured that He can do it through us if we will believe. As God said to Jeremiah, "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?" (Jer. 32:27)
- Gary V. Womack - January 2004