Going “round and round the mulberry bush” in a mental sort of way.
Over and over.
Not because I’m hungering for mulberries, but because I’m remembering…
This may be a key memory that taps into a type of fear I’ve “located” this week.
I’m taking seriously this thought from last week:
I cannot deal with fears in a biblical fashion unless I label them – big and small.
So, I’ve asked the Lord to reveal some of my fears to me.
Then, this memory of mulberries came to mind.
There was a season during our too-short-stint serving at Rift Valley Academy in Kenya when I was able to purchase cans of imported mulberries at a local market in Nairobi.
They weren’t horribly expensive, and they made the best muffins!
One can was just right for a special morning treat of mulberry muffins.
So, on days when I went shopping in Nairobi, I generally picked up one or two cans.
The shelves were always stocked with these very identifiable yellow cans.
Then one day, there were no cans left.
I checked the next time I went to town, and still no more mulberries.
I checked every time for the next 3 years – no mulberries.
We missed our mulberry muffin treats.
For months they had become a regular item on our breakfast menu.
And, it wasn’t just mulberries.
It often occurred that you could find something one day, and then…gone.
Sometimes for a season…Sometimes longer.
We went through a season of sugar shortage.
A season of rice shortage.
Those things came back, but never the mulberries.
So, like most people, I learned if it was on the shelves, and I used it regularly, I better purchase the items in quantity; and, since there was no Costco, I created my own “buy-in-bulk” method.
Unfortunately, that mindset began to carry over to other things besides food (clothing, shoes, bathroom products, money, etc); and, unfortunately, even now, living in a country where our markets, stores, and malls are more than adequately stocked, I find myself purchasing more than I need (way more than I need)…sometimes more than I can every use in a lifetime…
In a society that has become minimalistic/simplistic in its preaching, this can be a real issue.
So, wondering why the mulberry-saga popped into my mind this week, I pondered the fear it may have represented.
Here it is:
I recognized this as a real issue in my heart.
I live like that.
If one fits, and I like it – buy two or three.
If it’s on the shelves today, it may not be there tomorrow (in America?) – so buy a case.
What if? What if tomorrow, something happens, the world goes to hell in a hand basket, and I am left…..wanting?
The Bible talks about scarcity.
The sage of Proverbs warns us not to be lazy, to tend to business, so that scarcity won’t come upon us as an armed robber (Proverbs 24:30-34).
Paul tells us if we want to eat, we must work…
There are principles in place to prevent scarcity.
But, to fear scarcity?
To be anxious about tomorrow?
Jesus says, simply put, don’t.
Don’t go there.
Why? We have a God who provides for birds of the air and lilies of the field, He will provide for us.
He doesn’t tell us this to make us feel guilty.
He doesn’t command us to make us miserable.
Jesus’ heart, remember, is always for us.
His plans are better – and worry isn’t included in “better…”
Don’t worry – because God is LOVE.
He says, “I will care for you.”
“My name is Jehovah Jireh (I AM HE WHO PROVIDES)…”
Here’s the convicting thought that parallels this kind of fear of scarcity…
…Here’s what “fear of want” within me is really saying:
“God, you are not enough.”
“You are not good.”
“You are not generous.”
“YOU have been measured in the balances of my mind and you have come up lacking.”
Fear puts me behind the bench as Judge, and, God on trial…
Oh, my soul…
I’ve been judging my God.
And, it all began on a shelf in a small Nairobi market, when mulberries went missing…
The Scriptures assure me that God takes care of His own.
And the words go even further to promise me that He is not only a provider, but a generous God, a “God-of-so-much-more.”
