Dear Church: Lack is Killing Our Joy

Google dictionary defines lack as:

“the state of being without or not having enough of something”

Merriam-Webster adjusts that lens a little bit with this definition:

“to stand in need of”

Am I in need? Yes, yes I am.

I need hope.

I need relationships that go the distance.

I need guidance.

I need forgiveness.

I think it’s easy, though, to see what we need and try to get it from every place besides where we can truly get it: from God alone. We need hope. We need grace. We need acceptance. We need truth. We need love. But we try to fill ourselves up with things that are not Him to get it. And we end up still empty. Our internal “need radar” still flashing red. What was put in us as an alert to remind us that God wants us, that God loves us, gets discombobulated in our subconscious as a sense of empty, a sense of lack.

There are people in need. There are people without food. People without beds. People who have been deserted or cast aside by those they love. Need is real. What I’m talking about, though, is the first world problem of scarcity, where nothing is ever, ever enough.

We get a few accolades, we need more.

We have so very many resources, but live in fear they will run out.

We want more sleep … more time … more friendships … more …

Brene Brown’s research* reveals that the opposite of scarcity, the opposite of our constant vantage point of lack – will there be enough tomorrow? – is not abundance or more, but seeing what is enough right now, for today.

Not more gifts in the offering plate, but enough gifts for today.

Not more friends in our queue, but enough friends to connect with today.

Not more time with our kids, but enough time to spend today.

When “more” pops up as a need – that’s real … but that’s always about God.

When “enough” becomes our refrain, we live in less fear, and experience the joy God has already granted us deep in our souls.

In today’s podcast we talk about the impact of lack on our individual lives, but also our life in community, as well as the spiritual practice of enough.

Up Next: Financial Liftoff 

In the Meantime: Catch the first podcast in this series - Vulnerability (and Boundaries)

*Find more on Brene Brown’s research and insight regarding vulnerability, lack, and enough in Daring Greatly (affiliate link)

You might also want to check out this conversation between Michelle Dierck's of Peace in His Presence podcast and I on what gratitude really is and what the practice of gratitude with grace might look like: