Perfection in Worldly BlessingsSpeaker: Dr. D.G.S. Dhinakaran Gist: Instead of fretting and troubling yourself with ill-founded notions thinking,"Will poverty choke my family? Wait patiently in our Lord's presence.God desires that you should be perfect and complete. "Above all things I desire for you; you should live abundantly; you should be healthy", This is our heavenly Father's will 'the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy' (1 Timothy 6:17) is watching us, ever, from heaven to fill our deficiencies, when they appear in our life, to make us full and complete.
"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."(Philippians 4:19)
"The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing."(Psalm 34:10)
"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly." (Psalm 84:11)
All these scriptural verses confirm the same truth. Listen to what our Loving Saviour Jesus asks us, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:11)
The Mountain Peak, Everest is the highest in the world. To climb up and reach the peak is a great feat; several people venture to reach the peak at various time, some have made it but some have been frozen to death by the snow-storm in that mountainous region; some have been buried alive by the crevices in the mountain, covered by snow; some mountaineering adventures slip and roll down and meet their death.
In an analogous situation, in our journey of life, which is a venture towards heaven, tempestuous storms confront us, baffling us exceedingly. Proverbs 10:15 says, "The rich man's wealth is his strong city; the destruction of the poor is their poverty."
Poverty, like a snowstorm, attempts to destroy our life. In our worldly life, financial discrepancies, Debt- burdens penury... perplex us. According to Ecclesiastes 7:12, "money (wealth/riches) is defense" Ecclesiastes 10:19 says, " money answers everything." That is why God is ever ready to save us from the terrible whirlwind of poverty by providing us with financial strength. How consoling is the verse,
"The Lord is in His holy temple, The Lord's throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men." (Psalm 11:4)
After I completed my graduation God gave me a job at the right time and blessed me. Gradually, I was promoted to be an officer. I would give my tithe to the Lord as an offering, regularly. I would entertain and feed the Pastors who visited my home and give them a donation too. Whatever offerings the Bible asked me to make, I gave without fail. Nevertheless, poverty tormented me, for no rhyme or reason. The salary I received saw me through, only for three weeks in a month; in the fourth week, my purse would be empty. To manage the affairs of the family was a difficult task. One day my wife bought for her a pair of sandals with a tyre-sole, from a platform vendor for 50 paise. We could afford only that. On the birthday of my son, Paul, I did not have enough money to purchase a shirt for him. My wife had to wash my shirts and iron them; she had to stitch up, herself, my torn shirts. We traversed this path of penury for 6 years. I used to ask God, 'Lord, why this indigence for me?' I was vexed. Suddenly, I got a promotion in my job and I was transferred to Alapuzha. In the new place, I knelt down and prayed with tears, "Lord, bless me in this new town.' The Holy Spirit came down and filled us abundantly. He spoke to us, 'Loving Children, from today, all your poverty and financial inadequacies are over. A great exultation. From that day, the whole situation changed upside down. Salary rise, on one side, and promotion of my job on the other side. God's blessings were increasingly showered upon me with change after change in my official and financial position. Poverty fled and vanished.
"This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men." (Acts 24:16)
In tune with what St. Paul says here, God, sometimes, tests us through poverty if we have a conscience without offence.
In my case, He knew that, later, I would be given an expansive ministry and I would have to deal with a considerable amount of money and that I should be faithful in dealing with His money. That is why, He made me pass through poverty for 6 long years. Even during these times of inadequacy, I would be very careful in giving offerings for the cause of His ministries, with the fear of God, so God blessed my ministry abundantly; He saw my integrity and truthfulness. Even today, I can give the same witness as that of St. Paul, in my life. Let us not agitate ourselves with ill founded notions;
"Will poverty choke my family? Will it debar me from dong His ministry?
"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time." (1 Peter 5:6)
According to this verse let us wait in our Lord's presence patiently.
God who desires that we should be without inadequacies...we should be perfect and complete... will exalt us. He will perfect us. Wipe away our tears. Suppress the whirlwind snowstorm of poverty and debt-trap. He will give us the shield of financial prosperity.
Prayer:
Loving Heavenly Father,
Make my life perfect and complete. Lord, You be my shield of financial prosperity. Take away poverty from my life. Wipe away my tears. Make my life a debt-free life. In Jesus' mighty name, I pray.
Amen. |