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“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4 ESV)

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Scarcity

by Macy Johnson

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
(John 10:10 NIV)

I stopped in my tracks and took a double-take. There, in the cereal aisle of a small-town grocery store, I saw a man pushing a cart stuffed with packages of toilet paper!

The COVID-19 pandemic had exposed fears in most unusual ways. Not only was tissue flying off the shelves, but soaps, sanitizers, chicken, frozen potatoes, and canned goods joined the migration. Americans suddenly faced a mass shortage of rations they were accustomed to enjoying in abundance. Shortage took on a new and frightful meaning for me.

I experienced scarcity firsthand when I visited my Compassion International child in Peru in 2007. I was humbled and honored to meet Mario and his mother and attend the school/church projects there.

On that flight to South America I recalled a musical-mission trip to the Dominican Republic with First Baptist of Pensacola in the early 1970’s. As their choral accompanist, I served in a medical clinic during the day and played in concerts at night. The Dominican Republic trip was my introduction to third-world poverty.

My husband joined me on a Compassion tour in 2009 to visit Darwing, our sponsored child in Managua. Nicaragua was less commercialized than Peru and strikingly more humble. Believers lived in flimsy cardboard boxes with leaky tin roofs and shifting, dirt floors, protected only by their sturdy faith.

During the coronavirus pandemic I decided to shrink my store of possessions. I replaced paper goods with washable, cloth items. “More of Him and Less of Me” took on a new, personal meaning.

I will let go of things in order to get more of Jesus, in Whom there is no scarcity. I hope you will, too!

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