What type of mentality do you think you have? Do you think you see life as the mindset of one who sees a shortage or surplus? A shortage mentality tends to always look at life as not having enough, I don't have enough money, I don't have enough energy, I don't have enough of what it takes to make my dreams come true, I don't have enough knowledge, I don't have enough education, or whatever is needed-I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH! It's the sense that I'm always a day late and a dollar short. It's this kind of mindset that focuses on your limited resources and can cause one to live in an overwhelmed state. 

 

Whereas, a person with a surplus mindset focuses on the limitless resources of God- knowing that just because I may not see it at the moment doesn't mean that God doesn't have it available for me. See with a surplus mentality, you don't worry about running out because God is the source of your being.  He is the source of your life! So if I lose one job, God will provide another.  If one door is closed, I keep walking up the hall to another.  Actually, God wants us to live an overflowing life rather than being overwhelmed.

 

This short story in our text shows us how to get from overwhelmed to overflowing. The unnamed man in this passage helps us see that preparation, promise, and provision shifts us from a shortage mentality to a surplus mindset.