God, How Come I Am Not Rich?
Ever since my teenage years I had always believed that I
would amount to something, I would do something really important and become a
real benefit to all of mankind. Well here I am approaching my sixtieth
birthday, I was laid off four years ago and here I am sitting at my computer
wondering what went wrong. My wife calls me cursed and a loser and my kids say
that the employers who were supposed to call me back are just pranking me.
I can remember asking God if He would just let me win the
lottery all the good I could do with all that money. I could solve world hunger
and I was even willing to cut God in for a slice of my winnings. I thought I
had all the bases covered. How could God resist! I was going to cut Him in for
10%.
That reminds me of my dad, who never went to church. One day
after he did his tax returns I was looking at the form before he mailed it and
I noticed that he had declared $500.00 in donations to his church. I said “hey
dad, what’s this $500.00 in donations to the church, when have you ever been to
church much less when have you ever donated any money to them?” His reply was straight forward and he said “Tim
me boy, if I was a church going man I would attend church every week and if I
attended church every week I think a donation of $500.00 for the year is more
than reasonable.” I replied “dad I hadn't realized you were so generous.”
I think the same principle applied to me when I asked God to
win the lottery. Here I was thinking that I was doing God a favor by cutting
Him in for 10% when the reality of the situation says that all the wealth on
the planet belongs to God in the first place. I would be fortunate indeed if God would cut
me in for any amount.
So the question still remained. God how come I’m not rich?
My answer came to me the same way all of my questions get answered and that is
through the Bible. I think you might be surprised like I was when I searched
for my answer in the Bible.
Ecclesiastes 5:12
The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little
or much; but the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.
It appears that all that money wears heavily on the mind. My
sleep is very important to me. I don’t want to spend my nights worrying about
who’s trying to get my money and how I’m going to stop them.
1 Timothy 6:9
But
those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and
into many foolish and harmful
lusts which drown men in destruction and
perdition.
1 Timothy 6:10
For
the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,
for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced
themselves through with many sorrows
Am I saying all rich people are bad people?
Not at all, the Bible says the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. If
you put the needs of your money over the needs of the people or if you justify
your actions by saying “it’s nothing personal, it’s just business” then you
need to reevaluate your situation. If God has blessed you with great wealth
then it is up to you to use that money in accordance with God’s will. You need
to be praying daily for God’s guidance.
The temptation a lot of people fall into
when they acquire a huge fortune is they tend to look down on people and talk
down to them thinking they are better people because they have more money. They
forget that everything belongs to God and they would have nothing if it wasn't for God. Remember in heaven we will all be equal. No more upper, middle and low
classes. We are all equal in God’s eyes. To be fair I know that there are a lot
of good rich people who have used their money very wisely and have benefited a
tremendous amount of people.
It looks to me like being rich is not all what it’s cut out
to be. Where much is given, much is required. Being rich is just an illusion
and does not lead to happiness at all. My prayer to be rich seemed like a
reasonable request at the time and looked like it was the road to happiness but
reading these verses is showing me that my intent to be rich and even wanting
to be rich is evil and would lead me on a course to my own destruction. So
let’s keep going and let’s see what else the Bible has to say about riches.
Jeremiah 9:23
Thus
says the LORD: “Let not the wise man
glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man
glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
Proverbs 10:15
The rich
man’s wealth is his strong city; The destruction
of the poor is their poverty
It looks to me that if I were rich there would be a
tremendous temptation for me not to depend on God for my salvation and rely on
my riches to save me which would be a deadly mistake.
Luke 12:48
But he who did not know, yet committed
things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much
has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
To the people of the earth that God has blessed with
abundant wealth God will also require the rich to be accountable for every
penny spent. How well do you think our rich people are doing? Having all that
responsibility would be a tremendous burden to bear. No wonder the rich have a
hard time sleeping. Having all that money would be like playing king of the
hill. Everybody would constantly be trying to knock you off the hill. You would
never know who your friends really are; you would always be worried about
losing your money. That’s why Jesus said what He said in the following verse.
Matthew 19:24
And
again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to
enter the kingdom of God.”
Not only is being rich a huge
responsibility the Bible also says that it’s almost impossible to enter the
kingdom of God.
Luke 6:24
But woe to you who are rich, for you have
received your consolation.
The above verse reminds me when I was young
and my friends and I would go to the carnival. We would play the concession
games for hours trying to win the big prize. Of course the game was rigged or
so we thought and we would end up paying more money than the prize was actually
worth only to receive a consolation prize or a booby prize after all our money
was gone. That’s what Jesus is saying in the above verse. When the rich
person’s life is over after all the heartache that they put themselves through,
all the sleepless nights Jesus says the life that they lived in luxury is their
only reward in the afterlife.
Jesus in the book of Luke uses a parable
about a rich man and a beggar. I believe that all wealthy people need to heed
the warnings of this next parable:
Luke 16:19-25
“There was a certain rich man who was
clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But
there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his
gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.
Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar
died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died
and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and
saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.
“Then he cried and said, ‘Father
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But
Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good
things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are
tormented.
Notice how in the afterlife the rich man is
still trying to use the beggar as his servant.
Being wealthy is an enormous responsibility
one that cannot be taken lightly. As if
all the above isn’t bad enough there’s more the Bible has to say about being
wealthy.
Revelation 6:15
And
the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the
mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the
rocks of the mountains,
Revelation 6:16
and
said to the mountains and rocks,
“Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the
throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
Revelation 11:18
The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they
should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your
name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.
All the mighty men of the earth are all going to run and
hide in the caves of the mountains because they are the ones responsible for destroying the
planet that really belongs to God. At no other time in earth’s history can we
point a finger at those responsible for destroying the earth as we can today.
With global warming, nuclear warfare and a world system that could care less
about feeding and caring for their fellow man it would appear that as we
progress in the final time period of man’s reign pin pointing exactly who’s at
fault will become increasingly easier.
James 1:11
For
no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its
flower falls, and it’s beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his
pursuits.
Well I learned a very important lesson.
Be careful what you wish for! I thank God that the prayer to be rich was
answered and that answer was “No!” Asking God if I could be rich would be like
a little boy asking his dad if he could have poison to drink. God does what’s
best for us whether at the time we like it or not. At the time I felt I was let
down then God led me to other Bible verses saying that I am richer than any
billionaire on the planet.
James 2:5
Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not
chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to
those who love Him.
The reason I can’t be rich now is because
God hasn’t chosen the wealthy to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, He
has chosen the poor! Our most important possession to God is our faith and our
belief in Jesus Christ. God will not give us anything that will jeopardize
these two foundations of our faith. So if I am an heir of the kingdom let’s see
if we can get a better idea of just what being an heir of the kingdom means.
Galatians 4:7
Therefore you are no longer a slave but a
son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Revelation 21:7
He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and
he shall be My son
To me these verses are amazing. The maker of the universe is
telling us that if we overcome we will inherit all things. God is going to give
us all things, not some things or a few things, He is giving us everything. “Inherit
all things” My mind can’t even comprehend just how much that is. It makes all
the riches of this world look puny in comparison. All the wealthy people of the
earth who back stabbed their fellow man to reach the top now appears to me to
be very lost and very foolish.
This life reminds me of a game of "Monopoly". When it's all over you have to turn in all your property, houses, motels and money! You can't keep anything. The whole thing was just for fun! It appears our parents and teachers were right all along. Whether you win or whether you lose that's not important. What's important is how you played the game.
What I love about being a Christian is just when things seem
to be depressing and bleak God always has all the bases covered. I wanted to be
rich and important but God had something much better in mind for me.
1 Corinthians 2:9
But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered
into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
How can we be sure that all these promises
really pertain to us? Maybe Jesus gets the lions’ share of the kingdom and we
get what’s left over. This next verse puts everything in its proper
perspective.
Romans 8:17
and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we
suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
My wife and I have a joint banking account
and she has just as much access to the money as I do. The Bible also states
that in heaven the first main event is the “marriage supper of the Lamb”. Who’s
getting married? We are! We will be joined or married to Jesus Christ and we are
going to be sharing in all things. Just as a husband and wife are one, we will
also be one with Jesus Christ.
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