Finding Strength in Affliction and Poverty
Zephaniah 3:12: "I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD."
Psalm 119:71 says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” Also, Matthew 5:3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Through these verses of scripture, we learn that the two most despised things amongst the sons of men (affliction and poverty) are yet in God’s equation the most valuable! Because we know that His ways are not our ways, neither are our thoughts His thoughts, we then also know that most every way in which we perceive and understand our world is completely opposite God’s point of view!
How can we humanly declare either affliction or poverty as conditions which are good? We must first understand that these words can be defined both in a literal sense and in a spiritual sense. It is possible, for example, to be physically and literally in a state of ease, and yet be afflicted in the spirit or in the mind. Moreover, it is possible to be monetarily and literally in a state of wealth, and yet in your spirit and attitude become poor and needy. The direct opposite is also true of each statement.
Furthermore, we shouldn’t look for the gains we can obtain from being in a state of affliction or poverty, but rather in the process itself. There is a difference; for to be in a state is to speak only of what now is, but to be in a process is to speak of that which is yet to come! Therefore, we learn that through seasons of literal, physical, and monetary afflictions and lack we become broken and dependent upon God in our inner man. The beauty here is that the Word of God can seal this lesson of truth in our inner man in such a fashion that whether we’re up or down, whether we’re abased or abound, and whether it’s sunshine or rain, our soul rests in the unchanging, tried and tested truths of the Word of God above all else!
God uses the literal to teach us the spiritual, so that if we learn the spiritual, then our literal can also change! Then and only then can we be broken, and yet strong; poor, and yet rich!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
Psalm 119:71 says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” Also, Matthew 5:3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Through these verses of scripture, we learn that the two most despised things amongst the sons of men (affliction and poverty) are yet in God’s equation the most valuable! Because we know that His ways are not our ways, neither are our thoughts His thoughts, we then also know that most every way in which we perceive and understand our world is completely opposite God’s point of view!
How can we humanly declare either affliction or poverty as conditions which are good? We must first understand that these words can be defined both in a literal sense and in a spiritual sense. It is possible, for example, to be physically and literally in a state of ease, and yet be afflicted in the spirit or in the mind. Moreover, it is possible to be monetarily and literally in a state of wealth, and yet in your spirit and attitude become poor and needy. The direct opposite is also true of each statement.
Furthermore, we shouldn’t look for the gains we can obtain from being in a state of affliction or poverty, but rather in the process itself. There is a difference; for to be in a state is to speak only of what now is, but to be in a process is to speak of that which is yet to come! Therefore, we learn that through seasons of literal, physical, and monetary afflictions and lack we become broken and dependent upon God in our inner man. The beauty here is that the Word of God can seal this lesson of truth in our inner man in such a fashion that whether we’re up or down, whether we’re abased or abound, and whether it’s sunshine or rain, our soul rests in the unchanging, tried and tested truths of the Word of God above all else!
God uses the literal to teach us the spiritual, so that if we learn the spiritual, then our literal can also change! Then and only then can we be broken, and yet strong; poor, and yet rich!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill