By Hope van Noppen
| Scarcity is a lie, but it has been passed down as truth and with a powerful mythology that insists on itself, demands compliance, and discourages doubt or questioning. Lynne Twist, The Soul of Money |
The first time I had less than $1000 in my bank account, I panicked. I had just moved out of my parents’ house, was attending university, and couldn’t find a job. The money I had saved was quickly running out and with rent due soon, I was overcome with anxiety about how I was going to afford to continue living. At that moment, I felt like I had nothing.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I had fallen into a scarcity mindset. The scarcity mindset was originally established to refer to the anxiety and stress experienced by people below the poverty line, but a more recent definition of scarcity by Lynne Twist, author of The Soul of Money, tells us that scarcity is a chronic sense of inadequacy about life and becomes the very place from which we think and act and live in the world.
A scarcity mindset “lives at the heart of our jealousies, our greed, our prejudice, and our arguments with life.” Scarcity mindsets embedded in our relationship with money then become what Twist calls “expressions of fear” driving us to an endless chase for more.
The impact of this kind of mindset was explored in a 2017 study on how poverty affects cognitive functioning. The study argues that when you are fixated on lack, there is decreased ability to focus on other problems or make logical financial decisions. Lynne Twist mirrors this sentiment by explaining that “…When you let go of trying to get more of what you don’t really need, it frees up oceans of energy to make a difference with what you have. When you make a difference with what you have, it expands.”
For those living in extreme poverty, the lack of resources makes it difficult to move out of poverty. However, the prevalence of the scarcity mindset shows that even those who have enough are fixated on the lie that more is better and there are not enough resources to provide for everyone.
A needed shift in thinking
We need a shift in mindset, from scarcity to abundance. Scarcity tries to convince us that we do not have enough, but the teachings of Jesus reveal a mindset of abundance that inspires us to uncover the lies and myths around scarcity and focus on what we have.
- Scarcity sows discontentment, isolation, and hoarding.
- Abundance preaches contentmentment and community.
So how do we shift from a mindset of scarcity to one of abundance?
What worked for me? Being grateful, leaning into Christ and community, and exploring creative ways of handling my finances are all tools that helped. I needed the people in my life who support me to remind me that there are options available and to think outside the box in regards to jobs, housing, and schooling. While some of these ways were not my ideal, they allowed me to shape my problem in terms of what I could do, instead of what I couldn’t.
Here are some ideas:
Take time to write down what you are thankful for and think of the people in your life who may also be struggling with a scarcity mindset and share what you have. Often, when we are isolated and alone in our financial journeys we feel like there is not enough, but when we come together to share what we have, we see the abundance.
Focus on Christ and lean on your relationship with God. In the intimacy of relationship with God, we give Him our fears that we won’t have enough for tomorrow. We hold on to Him and look at the birds building nests. We stoop to smell the flowers. We think about His shepherding role in our lives. We think about His presence beside us and focus on the now rather than becoming anxious about the future.
| Time spent with the Lord, our Creator, keeps us grounded in our identity of belonging. When we are grounded in our identity in God, we can let go of the mindset that says we don’t have enough, and the constant race for more, to embrace the contentment and abundance that is found in Christ. |
Spend time in God’s Word to remember the truth. Psalm 23:1-3 is a great place to start.
“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want” (NKJV). These are words that remind me there is no lack when I am focused on Him.