Just Enough. Not Too Little…Not Too Much

In the early 2000s, television documentaries began shining a light on the mental illness of hoarding. It is a serious and complex condition. But if I’m honest, I can fall into a hoarding mindset from time to time.

I don’t hoard things—but……

I look at my circumstances and instinctively try to conserve myself out of fear that I won’t have what I need if one more responsibility lands on my plate. Anyone else living in the “sandwich season” of a rich, full life—yet one that feels like it simply cannot take on more? Or perhaps you’ve felt compassion fatigue or burnout from the relentless news cycle and noticed yourself becoming stingy with empathy and care.

As I was reading Exodus 16, I felt convicted that this scarcity mindset is really my flesh struggling to trust God’s provision. In this passage, God provides manna for the Israelites in the wilderness. But the stunning aha for me was this: those who gathered too much had nothing left over, and those who gathered too little still had enough. God made it just right for what they needed.

That truth became a filter for my mindset—a reminder to take each day as it comes, trusting God daily. When I walk in step with Him, I will be full with exactly what I need, without the urge to hoard or withhold.

So I’m asking myself—and you—where might your mindset be holding you back from trusting what God alone can and will provide?

Exodus 16: 18-20 But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed. Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.”But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell…