Everything you need you already have

Pssst… can I tell you a secret? You’ve got what it takes. Really. Everything you need you already have. You already have everything you need. (Notice I said “need, not want.”)

One of the life lessons I’ve heard people speak about during this season of isolation is they’ve realized the blessings of what they already have. Without the normal everyday distractions of commuting, car-pooling, shopping, movies, concerts, eating out, their eyes were suddenly opened to what was there all along: ENOUGH. And not only was it enough, it was more than enough.

 

It’s like the whole world stopped for a moment, took time to breathe and collectively murmured, “Ohhhh…..”

 

 

Of course, now that we’re in the midst of back-to-school craziness, elections, racial divisions and hurricanes x 2, the collective sigh has turned into a groan. NOT ENOUGH. Not enough patience, emotional and mental capacity, clarity; not enough bandwidth to deal.

So, it was a mercy this morning to read this verse in 2^nd Peter from The Passion Translation:

“May grace and peace cascade over you as you live in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Everything we could ever need for life and godliness has already been deposited in us by his divine power.” 2 Peter 1:2-3

 

 

Wait… everything I could ever need? I’ve already got it?

Don’t you love the wording in that translation: “grace and peace cascading over you…?”

A waterfall comes to mind. I can just feel the refreshing waters flowing down over my head and shoulders in an unending torrent of love. The original Greek word plethyno means “multiplied.” Grace and peace multiplied. Cascading.

 

My life feels like a complicated long-division problem, but God does some kind of modern math wizardry and turns it into an exercise in multiplication.

 

 

That’s an equation worth pondering! But we don’t even have to solve the problem; Jesus already did it.

I am 67 years old and feel like I have barely scratched the surface of all that God has deposited in me. I’m just now becoming aware of all the layers of the me He created me to be. Somehow, by God’s grace, the only “not enough” thought that plagues me these days, is “not enough time to do everything I want to do for Him!”

 

But it wasn’t always that way

 

 

Scarcity scared me for years. Lack licked at my heels. Not enough nagged at me. It’s an awful way to live. Share on X

And yet…

Scarcity and lack (real and/or imagined) made me hungry. It drove me to my knees. I was famished for a word from the Lord, desperate for answers, driven by a need to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was seen, heard, loved, provided for. That I had something to offer.

“Show me who I am, Lord. Show me who You are.”

Oh friends, He loves to answer that prayer. But hang onto your hat when you pray it, because things are about to get squirrelly.

Have you ever noticed how often the Lord answers a question with a question?

“Father, would you show me who I am?”
“Who do you think you are?”

(My cue to write a list, which usually ends up being negative, aka “not enough”)
But when I take the time to listen, He reminds me who HE says I am (tear up the first list)
 
“Father, would you show me who You are?”
“Who do you say I am?”

(My cue to write down all the amazing attributes I can think of)
Then He nails it with another question:

“Do you believe that? Really?”

 

 

That’s how our little chats tend to go, anyway. One morning when the “not enough’s” were gnawing at my soul, I grabbed my journal and a pen, waiting and praying He would speak.

These are the words I heard Him say:

 

Mine me

Mine yourself

Everything you need you already have

 

There is treasure, buried treasure

Everything you need you already have

Be observant, pay attention

Everything you need you already have

 

Diamonds, rubies, emeralds

Placed in your heart before eternity

For such a time as this

Everything you need you already have

 

The deep place of your creative being

The Holy Spirit calling you

 

You see a barren field

A waste place of weeds

I see the treasure I buried there for you

 

When the son excavates your heart

You’ll see them shining on the surface

Many faceted jewels

 

I have many facets

You have many facets, too

Waiting to be discovered

 

Mine me

Mine yourself

Everything you need you already have

 

 

 

We want more, not realizing we already have it. We just need to go out to the shed and grab a shovel. “Dig deep,” as my friend Andy Lee likes to say. My friend Becky Burgue refers to it as “treasure hunting the trials.”

I call it “Counting it all joy.” It begins by paying attention, counting all the ways we see God at work; in beauty, laughter, poetry, friendship, nature, music and even in trials. Then we thank Him. We count and He multiplies (increases, enriches, extends, flourishes) those blessings.

 

 

 

Our lack is our opportunity to experience joy! Share on X

 

Hallelujah!

I know… it sounds too good to be true, right?

I mean, come on, that loaves and fishes multiplication thing was fine for the disciples back in the day, but we’ve got Whole Foods just down the street and they stock every variety of bread and fish you can imagine. IF you can afford it. Kinda’ hard to shop at Whole Paycheck when you’re not bringing in a paycheck.

When your wallet (temporal or spiritual) is empty and your hope is running dry, the Father says, “Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” Ps 81:10. Commentators believe this is an allusion to young birds being fed by the parent bird. The idea here is, “I can meet all your needs. You don’t need to look anywhere else. Ask and you shall receive. I am your source and your supply.”

 

 

Open your mouth in prayer, open it in praises, open it in lament, open it to receive.

Everything you need you already have if you have a relationship with Jesus Christ

Acknowledgement of God as our Savior and provider turns our “not enough,” into “more than enough.” C.S. Lewis says, “The soul is but a hollow which God fills.”

Do you feel hollow? What do you need today, friends? Do you believe you have what it takes because you have Jesus?

Are you living in the “… rich knowledge of Christ our Lord?” If so, grace and peace will cascade over your life like a waterfall and if you have that, if you have Him, you have more than enough.

Everything you need you already have. Really.