I Feel so Poor

Do you feel poor or that you have a lack of wealth in the material possessions in your life? Most of us would not place ourselves under the category of rich from our own perspective. We say that Rich is someone who has more than I do.  If you drove your car today, you are rich. If you picked out what to wear today, you are rich. If you decided on if you should have a snack today or not, you are rich. Did you know that if you make $48,000- plus annually then that places you in the top 1% of the global wage earners.  Hearing this doesn’t make us want to jump up and down though, so why is that? When it comes to wealth and riches we have to understand the difference in counting what we have verses wanting what we don’t. Compared to the world many of us are Rich, however us feeling rich is defined by knowing what we have and how much we want but don’t have.  We live in a world that is constantly bombarding us with this entitlement of “more more”. As we are feeding this desire for more money and things we are actually numbing ourselves from recognizing  how we are already blessed.

See Proverbs 30:15, “The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough”: Sheol, the barren womb, the land never satisfied with water, and the fire that never says, “Enough.”

We have all heard the phrase “first world problems” and it tends to get thrown around as more of a joke then anything but there is power in those words. These words are a reminder of the gifts you have been given. The fact that you are blessed so much so that your issues are based around not having enough plug ins in your kitchen to plug in your coffee maker or that you can’t find a great parking spot at the mall. This is not said to be little the issue you may be having but to remind you of the issues you aren’t having because you have blessed so much. We are blessed to be where we are but we need to watch out that we keep trusting the provider rather than His provisions.

So how can you fight this feeling of being so poor?

¹⁷ Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. ¹⁹ In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” – 1 Timothy 6:17-19

Recognize in verse 18 and 19 what is said here.

1. Be rich in good works because you have the time and money since you have been blessed
2. Store up treasure not material possession but the recognizing of the one providing for you. Recognize that it is not the provision that is special but the one providing for you that is.

In doing these two things you may take hold of the life that is truly life.