Krispy Kreme launched three new doughuts this week inspired by ice cream flavors. The new creations include a glazed doughnut inspired by Popsicle’s Firecracker, dipped in blue raspberry sugar and topped with flavored crème. Another is inspired by Good Humor’s vanilla King Cone: the doughnut is filled with vanilla custard and dipped in chocolate icing, then topped with sugar cone pieces and chopped peanuts and drizzled with chocolate icing.
The third is inspired by Good Humor’s Creamsicle: it is filled with vanilla custard, topped with two kinds of icing, and finished with mini sprinkles. The chain also launched a new Creamsicle-inspired Chiller, a frozen beverage made with a frappe base and orange flavoring.
Dave Skena, global chief brand officer for Krispy Kreme, said in a statement, “Should a doughnut really taste like a Creamsicle? Yes. Yes it should. And we didn’t stop there as we doughnutized some of America’s favorite frozen treats this summer.”
Abundance vs. scarcity
In his classic, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey made popular the terms abundance mentality and scarcity mentality. An abundance mindset believes there is plenty for everyone; a scarcity mindset views life as a finite pie, so that if one person takes a large piece, that leaves less for everyone else.
Psychological research shows that this distinction is highly relevant to every dimension of life.
For example, studies show that children who have a growth mindset that intelligence can be developed are better able to overcome academic challenges than those who believe intelligence is predetermined. A study of middle-aged adults revealed that those with more positive beliefs around aging lived 7.5 years longer than those with less positive self-perceptions of aging.
Doughnuts that taste like ice cream can illustrate an abundance mentality: why shouldn’t such a product exist for those who favor such a flavor? But we could approach this from a scarcity mentality as well: if we’re counting calories, eating an ice cream-flavored doughnut will limit (significantly) what we can eat later in the day. If we’re on a tight budget, money spent on one of these cannot be spent on something else.
My problems with embracing an abundance mentality with God
As we can see, both mentalities have their place. But I have become convinced that an abundance mentality is the best way to approach our relationship with our omnipotent Father.
He “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). Mary testified of him, “He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name” (Luke 1:49).
After God brought them miraculously through the Red Sea, Moses and the people of Israel sang to him, “Who is like you, O Lᴏʀᴅ, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11). David similarly prayed, “There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours” (Psalm 86:8).
I have three problems, however, with adopting an abundance mentality with God.
One: I am the son of parents who were children of the Great Depression. To the day he died, my father never threw away a pair of shoes. My mother kept cooking foil and wrapping paper in a drawer so she could reuse them. They had experienced scarcity on a significant level and were always afraid of losing what they had as a result.
Two: My concept of God growing up was of a judge with scales who rewards good deeds and punishes the bad. I believed I had to earn his favor while constantly fearing his judgment.
Three: I have long recoiled at the “prosperity gospel” that claims God always wants us to be healthy and happy if we will just have enough faith in him. There are too many biblical examples of innocent suffering for me to believe in such a promise. Jesus was clear: “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). He warned us, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20).
How to “find your true rest”
I have reconciled the abundance of my omnipotent Father and the challenges of living in a fallen world this way: God always knows what is best for us. He will give his best to those who leave the choice with him, but that choice must include the definition of best.
Sometimes God answers our prayers by delivering us from our challenges, as Paul experienced when his disciples helped him escape his persecutors in Damascus (Acts 9:25). At other times, he answers our prayers by using our challenges to grow us spiritually, as Paul experienced when God used his “thorn in the flesh” to draw him into greater reliance on his Lord (2 Corinthians 12:9–10)
In other words, he removes our thorn or he redeems it, as is best for us.
An abundance mentality is centered not in this temporal world but in the Lord: “Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). Commenting on this fact, Thomas à Kempis wrote in The Imitation of Christ: “You have here no lasting city. For wherever you find yourself, you will always be a pilgrim from another city. Until you are united intimately with Christ, you will never find your true rest.”
Are you “united intimately with Christ” today?
