The End of Plenty

Youth is wasted on the young, and wealth is wasted on the fool. Whether that applies to a case by case basis or can be declared as a general statement, I have yet to deduce. What I have deduced, what every fiber of my being is screaming with the clarity of a siren, is that the end of plenty is nigh, and scarcity is about to descend like an unwelcomed and unwanted visitor.

It is a well-established fact that much of what goes on in the world, including the ups and downs of economies, have a cyclical component to them. What goes up must come down, and the higher up we are, the farther we have to fall. Sure, for a season we can keep ourselves afloat by artificial means, but eventually the law of gravity will have its say and bring everything crashing back to the earth from whence it rose.

What is of concern to me is not so much the end of plenty. As Paul once said, I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Since my goal was never to attain earthly things, the absence thereof is of no affect to me. If one takes no joy in possessions, then the absence of possessions will cause him no sorrow. It is when we allow things to define who we are, or give us worth, that even the thought of losing them becomes more than we can bear.

What is of concern, and I believe it is a well-founded concern, is that this present generation, overflowing with the entitled and the coddled have not a clue what true scarcity really means. Not being able to afford a new I Phone every six months is not scarcity; not having had anything to eat for three days, is.

Everything is relative until it isn’t. One man’s need may be another man’s want, but eventually, no matter how you slice it, hungry is still hungry.

If now, in the midst of excess and opportunity, during a season wherein any man who desires it to be so and applies himself can keep food on the table and a roof over his family’s head thanklessness abounds and violence is spiking, imagine how it will be on the day the store shelves are bare, the infrastructure has collapsed in on itself, and everyone is left to survive on their own.

No, I am not trying to scare you or make you squirm in your chair this morning, I am just laying out a very possible, and yes, unfortunately probable reality of what the future holds not only for this nation but for the world as a whole.

The difference between this nation and much of the world is that much of the world knows what it is to do without. For a disproportionate number of the citizens of planet earth poverty is a way of life. It is something they have learned to adapt to and live with. They know what it is to go hungry, they know what it is to need, they know what it is to portion out the bag of rice so it lasts for a week, or continue adding water to the pot of soup wherein it sustains the family for days and days.

These are realities much of the world contends with on a daily basis, but realities we have yet to contend with here, at least for the last few decades. No, I am not saying that there are no poor people in America. What I am saying is that even the poor among us are considered affluent in many corners of the world.

I’ve said all that to say this: we do not build up our faith and trust in our heavenly Father in the midst of chaos and tumult. We build up our faith and trust in our heavenly Father before the chaos and tumult ensue, so that when it is unleashed we will be even keeled, unwavering, unaffected, and at peace.

It is in the midst of uncertainty that men look for something solid, and true, and immutable. It is in the midst of hardship that men seek comfort and relief. It is in the near future that your light must so shine, and your hope be so evident that men will seek you out desiring to know the source of your solace, and is then that you will be able to share Christ with more souls than you ever imagined. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.