God in lack and abundance ...

Thursday, September 1, 2011. Is it easier to live in faith when I am lacking important things or when I live in abundance?

Easy to say? …

You might say: when you have everything you need, then it is easy to believe. Then faith is a luxury good, something for those who never experienced real problems.

But there has also been the other argument. Faith is for those who lack something and search for consolation. Faith is for those who cannot do it themselves. Christianity has been criticized by psychology that it is just a drug to calm down the masses who would otherwise turn over the social structures.

But there is a much deeper question behind all of this. How do I deal with my own poverty or my own riches in the light of God? What is the role of faith? What is the influence of my personal circumstances with respect to my faith?

Faith saves us in poverty and abundance! …

Faith saves us. This salvation takes place on many layers. Faith saves us from putting our trust in the things which surround us. The riches we have can go any time. Money or land or things can be destroyed by natural catastrophies or by the markets, we all have seen such effects these days. Riches are not reliable, and faith saves us from using perishable things to build our life on them.

But faith also saves us in poverty. We are not determined by poverty. Our value is given by the Lord, it is huge. He is giving everything. So there is no need to be depressed, no reason to be pulled down by our missing success. Faith saves us from the devastating influence which poverty can have on us. It fills us with love and patience, with motivation to work on our circumstances, with discipline to work on our life.

The apostle Paul writes about this situation in his letter to the Philippians. He has experienced both suffering and success - and realized that he can bear both because of the power of the Lord, his love and truth, which he got to know. ... more texts