The Word Given: Abounding

But what I am facing in life is not as important as how I face it.

BIBLICAL STUDIESTHE WORD GIVENCREATION

Matt Davenport

1/23/20252 min read

Genesis 1:20-23
Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” So, God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” So, the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

My first question is, “Are you abounding?” God has granted so much in the world and so much for us, His Children, it seems hard to not be abounding. In Ephesians it says that we have been given every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (1:3). That means literally everything we need spiritually. And yet so many of us Christians do not have anything that looks remotely like we are abounding.

Jesus said He came to give life and to give it abundantly (John 10:10). As the people of God, we have the privilege to live life abundantly. Not rich and wealthy. Not perfect health. Not exist with favor in man, but a life that is abounding with gifts and creations and love. That last one is the most important one. Love.

You might counter that by pointing out all the struggle you have in life. Well, I am not financially set very well at all. I don’t have perfect health. My friends are all amazing, but none are in Hollywood or Washington DC. My truck is old and rusty. In other words, my life is not “abundant” in the eyes of the world, either.

But greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). I have riches no one can count. My family and my friends are the best anywhere, but they are rich and famous at all. The joy of the Lord is my strength (Nehemiah 8:10) and what I face daily is nothing new. Money concerns, connections, vehicle issues, food in the cupboard…it goes on and on. But what I am facing in life is not as important as how I face it.

This isn’t to lessen what you are dealing with in your life. No one can tell you that your circumstances are better or worse than any other. Jesus walks with you through that and desires to hold you up in the midst of it. But we can choose joy and strength in the middle of it all. We have that option, and He certainly will provide the wherewithal.

So, not to take the scripture out of context here, but read that first line again. Maybe make it your own? Let your life abound with abundance of living…