POOR BUT RICH

POOR BUT RICH

     My family did not have much money, but we were rich nevertheless. We were not poor because my father was lazy. He worked long, hard hours at jobs that were hazardous and physically demanding. But for many years he received low pay. Low pay plus a large family equals poor. God blessed us with other riches, though, that cannot be found in monetary things.

     My parents had four small children, all girls, over a span of as many years. Even so, when the youngest (twins) were two years old, my parents were willing to take in my two young cousins, a boy and a girl, who had become homeless. They were the same ages as the two oldest of we siblings. A few years later, two more babies, a girl and boy, entered the family about two years apart. Mom and Dad were poor in cash, but rich in compassion and love.

     We learned to have fun naturally and did not rely on the artificial fun that comes from things that money can buy, “canned fun,” or worldly activities. My mother played the piano by ear, so we would often sing church songs around the piano. She and “the twins” each had a great sense of humor, so there was much laughter in our house. We were creative in finding entertainment and adventure. We were rich in spirit.

     Though some treated us as if we were bad and looked down on us because we were poor, we were good people – Christian people. God carried us through several traumas and much adversity, including the suicide of dad's oldest sister, the mother of the two cousins that came to live with us, and He sent his angels to protect us when we had a car wreck that involved all ten of us, and in which my mother’s shoulders were crushed when she and the baby were thrown from the car. That is a story in and of itself. Through all of our trials, God was our hope and our sustainer. We were rich in God’s love and care.

     The poor are not to be despised. Christians are to look at no one from a worldly point of view (II Cor. 5:16). Our commission is to help the poor, including the fatherless, the widows, and the aliens who have no one to help them. Paul told Timothy in one of his letters to command those who have worldly riches “to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share” (I Timothy 6:18).

     In order for Christians to share their greatest riches with the poor, we must first try to understand them. We must go where they go, do what they do, and feel what they feel. If we really want to make a difference in their lives, we will share the riches of our time, energy, and expertise. A hand-up is worth more to them than a handout, though an occasional handout acts as a blessing to them. We can also point them in the right direction and offer them encouragement. But bear in mind, the poor can increase our riches, too, for there is as much or more to learn from them as they do from us.

     We can be confident that God can restore the poor. He has a special place in His heart for them. God chose those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom. He promised that to those who love him (James 2:5). To those who say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing” He says, “realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17). So the question is, who is really rich and who is really poor? 

--Becky Overturf Wall