The Last Meal That Wasn't

What if the reason you feel like you never have enough isn’t your circumstances—but the fear controlling your decisions?

In this episode of Articulated Illustration, Dwane Richardson Sr. breaks down the scarcity mindset and how fear can make us hoard our money, opportunities, resources, and faith—even when holding on is keeping us stuck.

Using the powerful story of Elijah and the widow in 1 Kings 17:7–16, Dwane explores what happens when what you can see says “there isn’t enough,” but God is asking you to trust Him anyway.

This isn’t about being careless or pretending problems don’t exist. It’s about recognizing when fear has quietly become the decision-maker in your life.

Are you truly protecting what you have—or is scarcity preventing you from experiencing what could happen next?

Listen now and discover why sometimes the greatest shortage isn’t in your resources.

It’s in your trust.

Articulated Illustration—where we see things from unusual angles.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Before we get started, I want to mention that the story that I referenced in this episode comes from 1 Kings 17, verses 7 through 16, the account of Elijah and the widow of Zaparath. If you're not familiar with it, I truly encourage you to read it. It provides the biblical context for what we are about to discuss. What do you do when what you have is already not enough as somebody asks you to use some of it anyway? Not what you have left over, not what you can't comfortably spare. I'm talking about the last of what you have. There's a woman in the Bible who found herself exactly in that situation. She was a widow, raising a son, living through a drought, no rain, no crops, food running out for everyone around her, and she had reached the end of her resources. No pantry full of food, no money hidden under the mattress, no Amazon Prime coming tomorrow. She had a handful of flour, a little oil, and enough firewood to cook one final meal for herself and her son. And that was the plan. Cook it, eat it, wait for death. Then the prophet Elijah showed up and asked her for water. As she went to get it, he asked for something else, a piece of bread. The nerve of him. Now imagine what went through her mind. Bread? Sir, I don't have bread. I barely have ingredients. What I have is already spoken for. And she tells him the truth. A handful of flour, a little oil, and she's out gathering sticks to cook the last meal she and her son will ever eat. Elijah's response is what I want you to sit with. Do not be afraid. Before he addresses the flour, he addresses the fear. Before the oil, before the drought, the hunger, the empty containers, he goes straight for the juggler. Because the greatest shortage isn't always in the container. Sometimes it's in the way that we are thinking. And that's what I want to talk about today. Scarcity mindset. You can have a legitimate shortage and still have to guard against letting that shortage take over your mind. You can go through a hard season without letting that season make every decision for you. You can be honest about what you don't have without going blind to what still is in your hands. The widow thought she was making her last meal. What she believed was the ending was actually the beginning of their provision. Welcome to Articulated Illustration, where we see things from our usual angles. I'm your host, Dwayne Richardson Sr. And this podcast is sponsored by me. But if you want to invest in purpose and make things happen, I'm here for you. Today, we're talking about scarcity mindset. And I want to start with an important distinction. Scarcity is real. There are people who genuinely can't pay every bill. People are running out of food. People stretching one tank of gas until a payday. Parents sacrificing because their kids need something. People living paycheck to paycheck, praying that the car doesn't break down and nothing shows up unexpectedly. So I'm not saying scarcity is an imaginary thing. The widow of Zerapath wasn't imagining her situation. The drought was real. The hunger was real. And most definitely, the empty flower container, it was more than real. Her fear made sense. But here's the difference. Scarcity is a condition. Scarcity mindset is when that condition becomes your ruler. It's when the fear of running out starts controlling every decision that you make. When you become so focused on what could disappear that you start recognizing the purpose of what remains. When you hold something so tightly, it can no longer produce, help, serve, or fulfill the reason it was placed in your hands. And here's the dangerous part, my illustrators. Scarcity mindset can outlive the scarcity. Your circumstances can improve why you'll think it stays stuck in survival mode. You can have more money and still feel one purchase away from disaster. And you can also enter a healthy relationship and still brace for abandonment. You can get a new opportunity and make decisions based on the last door that closed. And you can finally have people in your corner and still refuse to trust anybody because nobody helped you before. The drought can end while the fear of drought keeps running the show. Today's word of the day is sufficiency. Sufficiency means having enough to meet a particular need or purpose. And notice it doesn't mean abundance. It doesn't mean overflow. It doesn't mean you have everything you want. Sometimes it just means enough for the next step. Enough strength for today. My God, I know about that. Enough wisdom for the next decision. Enough courage to make the phone call. And enough faith to obey without seeing the whole outcome. I'm gonna say that again. Enough faith to obey without seeing the whole outcome. Scarcity mindset says, if I can't see enough for the entire journey, I must not have enough to take the first step. Sufficiency says, I may not have everything I need later, but I have what I need to move right now in this present moment. The widow did not get a warehouse full of flour. And she didn't wake up with 50 gallons of oil. The flour didn't run out. The oil didn't run dry. She got continuing provision, and often our problem is we're looking for surplus when God is offering sufficiency. We want the entire solution before we move. Every question answered, every bill cover, six months out. Guarantees certainty. But provision doesn't always arrive as a complete map. Sometimes it shows up as just enough light for the next step. Now let's slow down and look at her situation. She was a widow, and which in that culture likely meant losing her main source of protection and stability. She had a son she had to keep alive. Then the drought hit. A drought doesn't just affect weather, it affects crops, livestock, food, prices, everything, and everybody. This woman was carrying grief, responsibility, and economic pressure all at once. And then Elijah asks her for bread. Water was one thing, but bread meant the flour and the oil and the very things standing between her and starvation. And she tells him, I don't have bread. I only have a handful of flour and a little oil. In other words, I don't have enough to do what you are asking. Let's be honest, illustrators. How many times have we said some version or variant of that? I don't have enough money. I don't have enough time. I don't have enough experience. I don't have enough support. And sometimes that's factually correct. You may not have as much as you like or as much as somebody else. But the real question is whether or not have enough for everything. Do you have enough to do the next necessary thing? The widow didn't have enough flour to feed a city. She had enough for one small piece of bread, and that small act connected her to something far bigger than she can see. Do not be afraid. Fear changes how we calculate. It makes everything look smaller, and every risk looks larger. It makes every resource feel irreplaceable. Fear says if you use this, you'll never get it back. If you help somebody, you will be left without it. If you share what you know, they will pass you by. Fear is always making predictions. But fear doesn't know what the future holds. It only knows what hurt you in the past. The widow had probably watched her food supply shrink a little more every day and drawn the understandable conclusion. When this is gone, it's a wrap. It's over. It's a done deal. Understandable conclusions aren't always accurate ones. We look at what's in front of us right now and assume it's all that will ever be available. The current amount becomes the final amount. The current disappointment becomes proof of a permanent future. Scarcity mindset takes a temporary measurement and turns it into a permanent prophecy. The widow could measure the flower. She could measure the oil. She could not measure the provision that was on the way. Now let me be responsible with this story. Faith is not pretending that the problem does not exist. The widow didn't lie about what she had. She didn't say, I have plenty. She said, I only have a handful. She told the truth about the shortage and still made room for instruction. And that's the balance. Tell the truth about where you are, but don't get so committed to your own interpretation of it that you cannot receive a different perspective. And remember, my illustrators, that's the theme and catchphrase for the show. We look at things from a different perspective. We look at things from unusual angles. So being low on resources doesn't mean that you are out of options. Experiencing loss doesn't mean nothing else can grow. And failing before doesn't guarantee the next attempt is the same way. The widow believed that she was preparing her final meal. She was wrong. Thank God she was wrong. Now, the difference between hoarding and stewardship. Scarcity mindset often disguises itself as wisdom. It says, I'm just being careful. I'm just protecting what I have. And sometimes that's true. You should plan, save, set boundaries, and prepare for emergencies. I'm not denying that. But stewardship and hoarding are not the same thing. Stewardship says, what's the right purpose of what I have? Hoarding says, how do I make sure nobody touches it? Stewardship runs on wisdom and hoarding runs on fear. The flower and the oil were meant to be used. The widow could admire it, could count it, guard it, but eventually she still had to make bread. A resource doesn't fulfill its purpose just because you possess it. Money never used for anything meaningful, isn't automatically well managed. Knowledge never shared, doesn't help anybody. Talent never developed, never becomes impact. And the ideal never executed, never becomes a business, a ministry, or a movement. And we have the tendency to say things like, when I get better equipment, I'll start. When I have more money, I'll get discipline. And when somebody supports me, then I'll believe in myself. And that statement to me is just straight up insanity. But the widow's story shows movement sometimes comes before visible increase. She didn't get more flour than obey. She obeyed while staring at the little that she had. Now, this story should never be used to manipulate people. And let me say that clearly. It does not mean ignore your children's needs. It does not mean to let somebody pressure or guilt you or twist scripture around to take advantage of you. Now, I say this a lot. Faith and foolishness are not the same thing. Generosity without discernment can become exploitation. And the lesson isn't give everything away and hope something happens. The lesson is don't let fear automatically become the highest authority in your decision making. Pray, use wisdom, examine the facts, seek godly and wise counsel, but also ask yourself, am I making this decision because it's wise or because I'm terrified? And that question can answer a whole lot. Scarcity mindset doesn't stop at money and material resources. It shows up in relationships and careers too. How's that, Dwayne? Well, in relationships, some people believe love is limited. So they tolerate things that they shouldn't because they are convinced that this might be their last shot at being wanted. They get possessive and they get jealous when a friend makes other friends. They also hesitate to compliment somebody else because it feels like it cost them something. But somebody else being gifted does not make you less gifted. Somebody else receiving an opportunity does not erase yours. Somebody else being loved doesn't shrink the love that is available to you. Now at work, it shows up as someone who learns the process and refuses to teach anybody else, thinking if I'm the only one that knows how to do this, they will always need me. But that's not job security, my friends. That's a ceiling. Leaders develop others. If you are afraid to share knowledge because somebody else might become competent, you're not protecting your value. You're admitting that you don't believe that you can keep growing. And the creativity, you get an ideal, but you never release it because it's not perfect yet. You keep editing, keep adjusting, and keep waiting. Underneath, this ideal is too important to get wrong. It's usually a quiet affair. What if this is my best ideal? People don't like it. There we go again. People. But an ideal hidden forever can't help anybody. The widow's flower had to leave the container. Your episode has to leave the timeline, and your dream has to leave the safe place where nobody can criticize it. Yes, once it's out, people can misunderstand it or ignore it, and they can also receive it. You don't multiply an ideal by hiding it. If this perspective is adding value to you, take a moment to subscribe to Articulated Illustration. Share this episode with somebody who may be letting fear make decisions for them. And you can catch the full podcast on all major platforms. Here is today's articulated illustration. Picture the widow standing in front of two nearly empty containers. One holds a handful of flour, the other a small amount of oil. If you only look at the containers, the conclusion is obvious. Not enough. But what if the containers were never meant to show her the whole future? What if they only had to hold what she needed for their next act of obedience? We do this too. We look at our checking account, our age, education, our past mistakes, and we conclude this is all I have. So this is all I can become. But the container only shows what's currently inside of it. It doesn't show what could be replenished, who can help, what's approaching, what you will learn, and how much stronger you will get. The widow saw the bottom of the container and assumed she was looking at the end of her story. It wasn't the end. It was just merely where faith had to begin. Empty doesn't always mean finish, and low doesn't always mean over, and the last meal may not actually be the last meal. So my illustrators, let me ask you, what are you protecting? Because you are afraid that there will never be more. Your money so aggressively that you won't invest in anything meaningful. Your heart so aggressively nobody can get close. Your ideals so aggressively, so none of them ever ship and become productive. Your position so aggressively you won't help nobody else grow. Protection can become a prison. The walls we build to keep pain out can end up keeping out growth also. And I'm not telling you to get reckless. I'm telling you to examine the source of the decision. Is this wisdom or is this fear? Stewardship or hoarding, preparing or paralyzed? I know these are very uncomfortable questions, but they create the necessary answers. So how do you go about breaking a scarcity mindset? Well, first and foremost, acknowledge the fear. Don't dress it up as wisdom as if it's fear. Say it plainly. I'm afraid that if I use this, I won't have enough. I'm afraid that if I trust again, I'll get hurt. Name it. Secondly, separate the present from the previous wound. Ask yourself, am I responding to what's happening now or to what happened before? The people in front of you may not be the people who hurt you. And don't make decisions using expired information. Third, identify what is still available. The widow didn't have much, but she has something. What do you still have? Maybe not unlimited money, but a small amount you can manage better. Maybe not a large audience. But the people currently listen and support you, maybe not every skill, but the ability to learn. Fourth, act with wisdom, not recklessness, not panic. Use what you have according to its purpose, its proper purpose. And finally, stop treating every shortage like a permanent identity. You may be short of money. That does not make you a failure. You may be in a drought, but you are not the drought. The mic dropped. Do not let an empty container convince you that you have reached the end of your story. The widow believed that she was preparing her last meal. Her last meal became the first meal of a new season. Her flour did not run out. Her oil did not run dry. What looked like the end became evidence of provision. And this is not in the script, but this is something I normally say or always say. Oftentimes when we go through situations and the Lord brings us out, I think we look at the situations that we are going through with a woe is me mentality. You know, why me, Lord? Why do I have to suffer? Why is this happening to me? And that's normal. We are human. You know, that's normal human reaction. But I look at it like this. In order to help somebody else, sometimes you have to experience the pain in order to teach and to help and to guide the next person through that pain. If you have never experienced anything, how can you help somebody else? So I hope this point stands out to you, my illustrators. So the next time you may be going through a trial or a period of things that may be uncomfortable, you may be going through a season of pain, or you may be even going through a season of scarcity. Let's not look at that with a selfish mentality. Ask yourself, could it be that I am going through this in order to be able to help somebody else? But back to the regular schedule program. Scarcity mindset says, this is all I have. Faith says, this is what I have right now. And those two statements, they sound similar, but they lead to completely different lives. One closes the door, the other leaves room for growth, for wisdom, for help, and for God. And some of us have been making permanent decisions based on temporary droughts. One hard season taught us to expect a shortage in every season since. So we hold back, we close ourselves off, we compete when we don't have to. My God, we refuse to release what's in our hands because we are afraid nothing else is coming. But Elijah and the widow remind us that our current measurement doesn't always reveal our complete provision. You may not have everything that you want, you may not have everything you eventually need. But before you declare it's over, take another look at what is still in your hands. They may still be flour, they may still be oil, they may still be an ideal, a opportunity, a next step. So don't let fears turn a difficult season into a permanent identity. Use wisdom, practice stewardship, and tell the truth about what you have, but never assume what you can see right now is all that will ever exist. Because the last meal may not be the last meal. This is Dwayne Richardson scene, and once again, this is an articulated illustration. And always remember to do what's absolutely necessary every day. And please remember this scarcity isn't about having less. Keep the pen in your hand until the next illustration, we'll talk later.