a life of abundance.

Psalm 27, Hosea 11:3, James 1:17

I named this blog Milk & Honey because, well first, I thought it sounded cute, but more importantly, milk and honey represent abundance in the Bible. These words simply mean plentifulness or having a very large amount of something. God promises to bring His people to the land of milk and honey, the land of abundance (Deuteronomy 26:9). Now, it just so happens that my favorite drink to enjoy is a mixture of milk, honey and a bit of espresso… (iykyk, coffee lovers).

My car is a 1998 Toyota 4Runner and it has well over 300,000 miles on it. Yeah, it’s an old one. It has rust, it has problems every once in a while, but every time I get in my car, I’m reminded of a way that the Lord once provided abundantly for me, seemingly out of nothing. During the summer of 2019, I was getting ready to head off to college and my high school car broke down, totally beyond affordable repair. College wasn’t going to just be right down the road from home, and I knew it would be difficult to figure out how to be away from home without a car. While I was working in the summer with my dad, we worked for an extremely kind couple, who had hearts after the Lord with a desire to serve those in need. They saw my need, and gave me this 1998 Toyota 4Runner… for free. Just because they wanted to be kind.

The Lord provided. My car isn’t new and it’s not shiny, but if I had it my way, I would never have to get a new car - because this car is a constant reminder of the Lord’s provision.

I’ve been reading Hosea, and Hosea 11:3 caught my attention. It says, “It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the hand, but they never knew I healed them.”

In the Old Testament, God’s people Israel were bent on turning away from the Lord (Hosea 11:7). As God’s people today, we still have a hard time keeping our eyes focused on the Lord. We have our eyes set on the things we want, the goals we want to achieve, the status we wish to gain. We scroll through social media and we want to keep up with the cute trends. We are living in abundance, and we often catch ourselves still wanting more and still wanting the next bigger thing. Even if we truly love God, there are other things that can quickly slip into first place, taking our attention and energy away from God.

How often does God heal us, teach us to walk, bring us out of hopelessness and give us hope, provide for us, and we never even see it? How often are we actually living in gratitude for the abundance that God has provided for us?

As we read the Bible, Old and New Testament, we see all of the amazing ways that God has always been providing and doing wondrous works out of love for His people, all for His glory, ever since he breathed the first breath into Adam. You may read this during a tough season, and seriously feel like it’s been a while since you’ve seen the Lord’s provision. You may be asking Him where He is, and why He isn’t providing abundantly in the ways you are asking Him to in your relationships, finances, or whatever area of your life you are struggling in.

This is a really real feeling, and good thing we have friends in the Bible who have felt the same way. My little car situation pales in comparison to what David was facing when he wrote Psalm 27. Armies deploy against him, evildoers seek to devour his flesh… but we can learn from the words he writes in verse 4.

“I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking Him in His temple.”

To dwell in the house of the Lord is the greatest gift, the safest hiding place, the only place of true abundance.

Even if the Lord hadn’t provided that Toyota 4Runner for me, He would still be just as good and just as faithful. Every breath He puts in our lungs, every moment that He teaches us something new, every time we get to open His Word and listen to Him, every prayer of ours that He listens to - He is providing for us through the gift of His presence far more abundantly than we could ever imagine. As James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

God offers us a life of abundance in His presence. He is faithful, good and constant. May our hearts and the focus of our minds be fixed on the abundant life that is right before us. <3 Xoxo,

Andee Lee