Poverty is bliss

Photo credit: alumpofclayinafrica.blogspot.com

Nimesota is a term synonymous with the month of January. It’s that year of the month that finds a lot of Kenyans broke from splurging on festivities in December. Je suis à sec is the French equivalent of I am broke, digging a little deeper, the French word sec means dry, barren, lean.

With such descriptions or definitions attached to being broke, it's easy to understand why it is a state few are too fond of. People resort to asking for soft loans, hard loans or anything else to get out of it. With such an urgency to break out of this period of dryness or barrenness, it comes as a huge surprise when being poor or broke is held in high esteem, as a state of bliss.

In-fact, it’s downright unusual, not to mention, inconceivable. Matthew 5:3 reads, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Just one second there. Blessed and POOR, in the same sentence? How now? It doesn’t quite make sense, added to that, the kingdom of heaven!!!

It’s a verse I couldn’t quite wrap my head around for obvious reasons. Poverty is closely associated with despair, suffering, and a chronic lack that nobody in their right mind would be proud of, how then is one blessed by it, that the Kingdom of heaven is theirs?

What exactly is being ‘poor in spirit’ anyway? A first point would be to start at what being blessed is because that is where the confusion lies. Ask anybody what being blessed is and the answers mostly border on the material. Blessedness is associated with having wealth, a good job, health, a good wife or husband, children, a nice car or home.

The above blessings are all good but when the focus shifts to the blessings rather than on the BLESS-er, that’s when the alarm bells are set off. These ‘blessed’ people’s value of self rises to obscene levels where they become rich in spirit, viewing themselves as indispensable because of what they have. They place security in their possessions and excessively depending on themselves, their abilities and their accomplishments till they stop needing or trusting God, pushing him to the periphery of their lives.

They perfectly illustrate why Agur was apprehensive about being rich in Proverb 30:7-9 when he says,” Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’

Now comes the other perspective. The one that has had me scratching my head for years on end, the one that looks like a curse from the surface when in fact it is a blessing in disguise. It is that the poor in spirit are blessed, and theirs is not a material blessing. You see, a lot of the time we attach blessedness to having, to accumulating stuff, there is another side to blessedness, that is be-ing, the person we become, our character.

The poor in spirit attain a state of being which is very desirable to God; they become humble or better yet, they are compelled to be humble. Humility is a state of being which can be elusive for us as human beings. It doesn’t come natural to us, because we tend to want to feel important, to feel big; we want to have a high view of self not a low one. It’s made all the more difficult when you are famous or when people celebrate you for what you have or have done, when you have wealth, status or prestige. A lot of the time, we can feel a sense of entitlement or an ownership to our successes, then, God flips the switch and suddenly it dawns on us He is in control not us.

We can veer so far away from his course that to get us back on track, he has to intervene and let us learn the hard way. This may involve removing his provision and protection and allowing adversity and affliction to hit us hard with the aim of bending and not breaking us so that he can shape to use us as he sees fit.

Take for example, the successful professional who lives the life with a good job, car, and house. All the while his bible gathers dust as he looks down on supposedly ‘poor’ people. Then, he is suddenly laid off, because of impropriety or his company goes bust, and now he is without a job, a steady income, and is struggling to pay his bills. He applies for work, but numerous applications pass without success as his former subordinates climb up the career ladder above him.

Another instance is a guy who prides in his righteousness, a modern day Pharisee, struggling to understand how people struggle with sin. Then, on one fateful day, indulges in alcohol leading to an addiction he can’t get out. Perhaps, he had a one night stand that lead to a baby out of wed-lock and a sullied reputation. Maybe he viewed a website he shouldn’t have and now he can’t free himself from porn.

How about a lady who is blessed with good looks, sometimes flaunting them excessively and looking down on less prettier girls, only that these less prettier girls are getting what she craves; a husband.

God gives and takes away at his own discretion. “What then shall we say, Is God unjust, not at all! For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion; it does not therefore depend on man’s desire or effort but on God’s mercy.” (Romans 9:14-16)

When God’s mercy or compassion doesn’t fall on us as an entitlement, we begin to get an honest assessment of our incompetency. Suddenly we begin to realize how inadequate we are, and that success is not a given right. We begin to realize that we are not righteous by ourselves and that we are sinners completely unable to save ourselves. We realize even marriage partners don’t come easy. It causes us to become humble and have a low view of ourselves.It causes us to rethink of our independence and start realizing we are dependent. It is the humility depicted by CS Lewis when he said; True humility is not thinking of yourself less but thinking of yourself less.

It is a humility that opens our eyes to the sight of the cold hard truth. In ourselves, we are inadequate; we are weak, such that we are poor in spirit, because we are made aware of our depravity and inadequacy. “Big man in a suit of armour, take that off what are you?” When our God-given suit of armour of Ephesians 6:13-17 is taken away, we don’t have any smart comeback like Tony Stark, we are nothing without it or God. We are totally vulnerable and can easily succumb to any temptation. We can easily be afflicted the way Job was and be powerless to stop it. How is this blessed or blissful? It is blessedness because in that low state, in that state of being down you are forced to stop looking inwards and instead look up to God.

In your poverty, is when you need God, it is when you look around and you have nowhere else to turn to but him. It is when you start seeking God, crying out to him to help you overcome your masturbation, your struggle with coke, your addiction to sex, your constant need to be affirmed by others. It is when you realize you’re not all that and you plead with God to free you from your self-righteousness which is constantly being proved fake. You plead with him to get you employment, to find healing from your past broken relationships or to give you somebody to love and help you be a person worthy to love them back in return because you can't do it by yourself. This poverty is blessedness because it is through this poverty that you get to see God’s richness. It is through that earnest seeking, because of your poor spirit, which enables you to find God. It is through a poor spirit that you get to discover a God who is real, personal and practical.

“I AM who I AM.” God tells Moses before he goes to speak to Pharaoh in Exodus 3:14. It can also mean “I WILL BE who I WILL BE.” Considering that I AM means that God is always present with you and that He will be, who will be means the world to the poor in spirit.

To the one who is poor in spirit at war his/her past self who made poor decisions, had sex with the wrong people, lied, cheated, God will be peace, he will affirm them as new Creations when they accept Christ or reaffirm them if they  already have Christ. To the one poor in spirit because walking with Christ is a daily struggle, where they keep falling, God will be gracious and He will forgive them if they confess their sins, he will also purify them from all unrighteous, he will graciously give them another chance to walk again. To the one poor in spirit or humble that he is she is too weak to live out the large expectations, to be the royal priesthood, to witness Christ through their life,God will be present; He will be their strength and their courage when they feel fearful or inadequate, he will be their righteousness when they don't feel all that righteous

In a poor state, one of barrenness and dryness when you are depleted because of your many sins and constant inability to achieve the highs you set for yourself or what people set for you, you become humble and contrite, likely to tremble at God’s word, exactly the kind of person God esteems. (Isaiah 66:2). With a contrite spirit, extremely poor, you will be revived because the high and lofty One says, “I live in a high and holy place but also with him who is contrite and lowly of Spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”(Isaiah 57:15)

No wonder Samson is listened to in 1 Chronicles 16:21-31, as well as Jonah while in the fish (Jonah 2) or David after the plague he caused (2 Samuel 24) or the contrite tax collector(Luke 18:9-14). They were poor in spirit, broken and brought to a point of humility, stripped of their supposed strength and righteousness. They were laid bare, their limitations exposed and realized their only hope was on God, they cried out to him and he answered their cry, he gave them strength or showed them mercy.

An even better example is the prodigal son(Luke 15:11-32) who was both materially poor and spiritually poor. One whom we can relate to because like him, many times we don't consider ourselves worthy to be called his sons/daughters. Like him, we are so low in spirit, ashamed of our past failures, that we would rather be thought of as slaves. The father will have none of it, and way before he had arrived, the father ran to meet him and welcome him back. That is the reception God gives the poor in spirit, those who have reached the end of themselves because of guilt and shame,  he embraces them lovingly, reaffirms them and restores them.

In this state of being poor in spirit for whatever reason, you get to witness first hand Gods richness, God’s grace which is more than sufficient for you. It thus becomes blissful or blessed knowing that you can fall short, never be perfect, make mistakes, that your abilities or accomplishments won’t always save you because God who is with you, is sovereign, is in charge, can show your mercy and compassion.

A low view of yourself gives you a right view of God. You are brought to your knees only for God to lift you up. Undoubtedly, Poverty in spirit and not ignorance is bliss.