Hi there,
So I will just declare it straight out, in my nation, I am considered poor. Now what that means, in my nation, is not that I don't have luxury, but that I don't have the same type of luxury as others. I know, crazy, right? The thing is, I have been facing this issue (of being poor) for a long time, and it has dawned on me, that being poor isn't just an inconvenience, it's a persecution. Now, what do I mean? I mean even having been poor, and not having been able to move house spiritually, there is a whole mindset and cultural obligation, that goes with being poor.
In essence, having been poor, makes you assess all the things that you can and can't do. You are not given the luxury of just buying the best product or the most dependable class of product. No, you choose the poor product. And how often do you celebrate the little victories in life? Only when they are most needed. But it goes further than this: do you associate with the rich? No. Do you think advertising is about you? No. Can you do more than pray, that you don't get sick, or fall short on your rent? No. Can you do anything with your property, or develop a family with ease or visit family when the need arises? No. That said, its not all bad.
Do you get discounts? Yes. Is there healthcare? Yes. Can you get entertainment? Yes. Do the emergency services treat you like everyone else? Yes. These things are fine, even good. Sometimes it is embarrassing, other times you feel alone, planning is difficult (but in essence planning is always difficult). Knowing this, even, is fine. But there is something you notice, in the process (of being poor), that is hard to shake.
In essence, know one wants to know your troubles, even you don't want to know your troubles. The idea that you can break free of poverty, is all consuming, you long for Heaven, you long to be in Heaven with God. The more you want God, the more the world hates you, and the more you put it down to poverty, the harder it is to see a way back, even just to the type of life you had, when you weren't flat poor. Flat poor, meaning so poor all you really have is the dirt under your feet. Now I know this is not such a bad thing, in its own context. There are people around the Earth, who are flat poor, all the time. They don't have resources of any kind. And I feel for them. I know there are people who want to be generous to them, and in part I think that's enough - which is what makes poverty so sad, it really does not take a lot to lift someone out of poverty!
So why persecute people who have nothing? Really, it is passive aggressive condemnation, that the poor get. When you ask for a disability discount at a store and the clerk looks at you like "what is your disability?" or you go to buy some deli-meat and the person you used to work with says "got a job, yet?" like that's the only thing in the world that matters, that's passive aggressive condemnation. The thing is its assumed, that if you are poor, nothing you have is worth anything, or you would have sold it, to get out of being poor - like you don't, you can't possibly want to be poor - what a horror! Any wonder then that the best thing the poor can do is pray! In the end it is God's generosity, that repays all - if the poor can trust that at any time, surely that is a joy!
Now I am not saying, there is nothing that can be done about the poor, but trust God; part of trusting God, is knowing that not everything rich in this world, is needed. There are some that would give half what they own, just to know what Heaven has in store, for those that did the little thing and do something great for the poor. Or indeed, the sick, the downtrodden, the diseased and so on. The point is, some times the best thing you can do, is be rich in praise to God, that you have taken His Gift and done something outstanding with it, that Lord willing, will not just have empowered you, but those around you. Are the poor not a blessing to the poor? But I digress.
The point is the poor know they are poor, you don't need to add that to the list of things they don't really deserve. I hope this has been some encouragement to you and that you have the sense to pray to God, in time to avoid poverty if not mitigate it, for the love of what God does out of generosity, even when you are poor.
God bless.
So I will just declare it straight out, in my nation, I am considered poor. Now what that means, in my nation, is not that I don't have luxury, but that I don't have the same type of luxury as others. I know, crazy, right? The thing is, I have been facing this issue (of being poor) for a long time, and it has dawned on me, that being poor isn't just an inconvenience, it's a persecution. Now, what do I mean? I mean even having been poor, and not having been able to move house spiritually, there is a whole mindset and cultural obligation, that goes with being poor.
In essence, having been poor, makes you assess all the things that you can and can't do. You are not given the luxury of just buying the best product or the most dependable class of product. No, you choose the poor product. And how often do you celebrate the little victories in life? Only when they are most needed. But it goes further than this: do you associate with the rich? No. Do you think advertising is about you? No. Can you do more than pray, that you don't get sick, or fall short on your rent? No. Can you do anything with your property, or develop a family with ease or visit family when the need arises? No. That said, its not all bad.
Do you get discounts? Yes. Is there healthcare? Yes. Can you get entertainment? Yes. Do the emergency services treat you like everyone else? Yes. These things are fine, even good. Sometimes it is embarrassing, other times you feel alone, planning is difficult (but in essence planning is always difficult). Knowing this, even, is fine. But there is something you notice, in the process (of being poor), that is hard to shake.
In essence, know one wants to know your troubles, even you don't want to know your troubles. The idea that you can break free of poverty, is all consuming, you long for Heaven, you long to be in Heaven with God. The more you want God, the more the world hates you, and the more you put it down to poverty, the harder it is to see a way back, even just to the type of life you had, when you weren't flat poor. Flat poor, meaning so poor all you really have is the dirt under your feet. Now I know this is not such a bad thing, in its own context. There are people around the Earth, who are flat poor, all the time. They don't have resources of any kind. And I feel for them. I know there are people who want to be generous to them, and in part I think that's enough - which is what makes poverty so sad, it really does not take a lot to lift someone out of poverty!
So why persecute people who have nothing? Really, it is passive aggressive condemnation, that the poor get. When you ask for a disability discount at a store and the clerk looks at you like "what is your disability?" or you go to buy some deli-meat and the person you used to work with says "got a job, yet?" like that's the only thing in the world that matters, that's passive aggressive condemnation. The thing is its assumed, that if you are poor, nothing you have is worth anything, or you would have sold it, to get out of being poor - like you don't, you can't possibly want to be poor - what a horror! Any wonder then that the best thing the poor can do is pray! In the end it is God's generosity, that repays all - if the poor can trust that at any time, surely that is a joy!
Now I am not saying, there is nothing that can be done about the poor, but trust God; part of trusting God, is knowing that not everything rich in this world, is needed. There are some that would give half what they own, just to know what Heaven has in store, for those that did the little thing and do something great for the poor. Or indeed, the sick, the downtrodden, the diseased and so on. The point is, some times the best thing you can do, is be rich in praise to God, that you have taken His Gift and done something outstanding with it, that Lord willing, will not just have empowered you, but those around you. Are the poor not a blessing to the poor? But I digress.
The point is the poor know they are poor, you don't need to add that to the list of things they don't really deserve. I hope this has been some encouragement to you and that you have the sense to pray to God, in time to avoid poverty if not mitigate it, for the love of what God does out of generosity, even when you are poor.
God bless.
