Healthy, Wealthy and Blessed
And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you,
and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence.
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion. Exodus 33:19
It seems to me that several of the more popular televangelists are wealthy. Due, perhaps to their own abundance, they like to preach prosperity to the rest of us. God, according to them, wants us to have everything, fancy car, big house, lovely clothes, etc. He also wants us to be healthy and happy. Some of them go as far as to suggest, if not come right out and say, that if we aren’t healthy, wealthy and wise we don’t have enough faith.
Contrast that with a very large portion of the world where people have almost literally, nothing but their faith. What about them? Several years ago my husband went on a mission trip to build houses in Honduras. He came home with stories of abject financial poverty endured by people of immense faith.
Financially, I fall somewhere in the middle. My husband and I are not prosperous by American standards but compared to much of the rest of the world we are wealthy beyond measure. Sadly in matters of faith, I fear I fall in the middle as well. My faith is certainly not based on my bank account or whether or not life is going my way. I am grateful for a faith that has sustained me through financial crisis, loss of relationships, humiliation and the death of loved ones.
I believe that God wants me to enjoy plenty. The question is plenty of what? Looking at that question I see that it could have a sarcastic tone and I assure you that is not my intention. Not too long ago I heard a pastor say, “God wants us to be happy.” This was not a man on TV. This man was standing right in front of me, preaching at my son’s church. It took every effort in me, not to say, “No, he doesn’t.” Which is not to say that God wants us to be unhappy: happiness isn’t the issue. God wants us to be joyful.
Our joy should not come from fancy anything. It should not come from the false security of a large bank account or the backward pride of a small one. It should not come from the ability to boast of never having been sick a day in my life nor the boast of all the illnesses endured. The steadfast joy of the Lord comes from, THE LORD. It comes from the simple, although at times very hard to hang onto, knowledge that God is God which makes everything right. It doesn’t matter how things look or feel. God is in control and He is perfect.
God may want you and me to have things, tangible, fancy, don’t I look nice, things but then again He may not and the choice is His. Our choice is to love and praise Him or walk away.
and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence.
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion. Exodus 33:19
It seems to me that several of the more popular televangelists are wealthy. Due, perhaps to their own abundance, they like to preach prosperity to the rest of us. God, according to them, wants us to have everything, fancy car, big house, lovely clothes, etc. He also wants us to be healthy and happy. Some of them go as far as to suggest, if not come right out and say, that if we aren’t healthy, wealthy and wise we don’t have enough faith.
Contrast that with a very large portion of the world where people have almost literally, nothing but their faith. What about them? Several years ago my husband went on a mission trip to build houses in Honduras. He came home with stories of abject financial poverty endured by people of immense faith.
Financially, I fall somewhere in the middle. My husband and I are not prosperous by American standards but compared to much of the rest of the world we are wealthy beyond measure. Sadly in matters of faith, I fear I fall in the middle as well. My faith is certainly not based on my bank account or whether or not life is going my way. I am grateful for a faith that has sustained me through financial crisis, loss of relationships, humiliation and the death of loved ones.
I believe that God wants me to enjoy plenty. The question is plenty of what? Looking at that question I see that it could have a sarcastic tone and I assure you that is not my intention. Not too long ago I heard a pastor say, “God wants us to be happy.” This was not a man on TV. This man was standing right in front of me, preaching at my son’s church. It took every effort in me, not to say, “No, he doesn’t.” Which is not to say that God wants us to be unhappy: happiness isn’t the issue. God wants us to be joyful.
Our joy should not come from fancy anything. It should not come from the false security of a large bank account or the backward pride of a small one. It should not come from the ability to boast of never having been sick a day in my life nor the boast of all the illnesses endured. The steadfast joy of the Lord comes from, THE LORD. It comes from the simple, although at times very hard to hang onto, knowledge that God is God which makes everything right. It doesn’t matter how things look or feel. God is in control and He is perfect.
God may want you and me to have things, tangible, fancy, don’t I look nice, things but then again He may not and the choice is His. Our choice is to love and praise Him or walk away.
Comments
Post a Comment