Where Do You Live?

            Where do you live – in the land of barely enough, just enough, or more than enough?
           
           For 430 years, the Israelites lived in the land of barely enough. “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.  And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.”  Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.  But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor.  And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field…” (Exodus 1:8-14 NKJV).
           
           You know the story. When Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh to tell him that the God of the Israelites had told them to hold a feast to Him in the wilderness, Pharaoh asked who this God was that he should obey Him. Then he decreed that the Israelites would have to gather their own straw to make bricks and still fulfill their daily quota. In the land of Egypt, the children of Israel barely had enough to get by. When Moses told them God would deliver them, “…they did not listen to Moses on account of their anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage.” (Exodus 6:9, MEV).
           
            After plagues and the death of the firstborn, Pharaoh let the Israelites go and God led them out with a strong hand. However, when it came time to go in and possess the Promised Land, they feared the giants living there, disobeyed God, and failed to go in.  For forty years, they wandered in the desert, until the unbelieving generation passed away. But God was gracious to them. “For all these 40 years your clothes haven't grown old, and your feet haven't blistered or swollen." (Deuteronomy 8:4 TLB). The Israelites were no longer in bondage in the land of barely enough. They had entered the land of just enough.
           
           But all along, God’s plan had been for them to live in the land of more than enough. “The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. (Deuteronomy 6:10-11 NLT). God had promised them a land flowing with milk and honey – the land of more than enough.
           
            So where do you live today? Are you still living in the land of barely enough or just enough? If so, God wants to lead you into the land of more than enough. The God we serve owns every animal of the forest and the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), the treasures hidden in darkness (Isaiah 45:3), and has promised to supply all our need, not according to the world’s faltering economy, but according to His limitless riches.
   
           Everything in God’s kingdom is based on the law of sowing and reaping. “Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your store of seed and will increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous on every occasion…” (2 Corinthians 9:10, Berean Study Bible). So sow your seed today and trust God to bring in the harvest. Stand on His promises. “Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days.”  (Ecclesiastes 11:1 NKJV).

            And remember, it is through faith and patience we inherit the promises. “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:11-12 NKJV). Go ahead – possess God’s Promised Land of more than enough. He wants you to have it.