The Tale of Two Peppermills

The Spirit of Poverty has been my companion all of my life. Over the years we became so accustomed to each other's company that I would often mistake his voice for my own inner talk. Even now, he is constantly talking to me and I am occasionally heeding what he has to say.

A good six months ago I bought some black pepper in a disposable grinder. It has been a wonderful way of getting fresh coarse ground pepper. Lately the grinder has been running down to the bottom of its supply. Last week I was at the same store and bought another.

When I got home I opened the new container and assessed the condition of the old one.

What I learned at that moment was that there was plenty of pepper in the old one, plenty but not much. I had stopped using it. I was approaching the state of pepperlessness, and I could not stand it. Rather than enjoying pepper, I was avoiding that empty feeling of running out. Of black pepper, for Christs sake.

Don't know about your relationship with poverty. The bit above describes mine. I have not wanted to even start the inventory of the things in my life that have been choked to death by this poverty pattern. I am convinced that, as I meditate on this revelation of bondage, I will walk out into the sunshine of an entirely new life.

Plenty

Plenty.

Reminds me of what Zig said about always having enough to eat when he was growing up. He said he always knew he had enough, because his folks said, "You've had enough."

Yes, there is poverty and hunger like that now. My guess, though, is that there are a lot more poorly nourished in abundance than in poverty.

The best thing about writing every day is that I get inspired every day. Meaning that the Spirit of God gives me something to write about. I get enough for the post. Sometimes there is more than enough, but mostly just plenty.

This inspiration is like manna. There was always plenty of manna. Except for the sabbath manna, there was no extra. And the sabbath manna was not extra.

Anyway, there is plenty. Knowing what satisfied feels like helps. The farmer who was going to build bigger barns had not tasted satisfaction.

Maybe now I understand why I need to write about plenty. When I say, "There is plenty." do you say, "No, there is not?" Are you experiencing plenty? Are you tasting satisfaction on a regular basis? If the answer is no, run a line down the middle of a sheet of paper and run an inventory of what you have on the left and what you lack on the right. Then tick off the things on the left that you are giving thanks for. Then tick off the things on the right that you really expect, and might even be giving thanks for in advance. Then thank God for the miracle working Blood of Jesus. Now if the exercise still leaves you lacking for satisfaction and believing you have poverty instead of plenty, then write me and we will see where we need to go from here.

There is plenty. I am learning that there is great plenty in not having to store up in anticipation of the day when God breaks His Word.

Father, thank You that You are the definition of Faithful.