The Misery of Being Able
Revelation 3:17
"Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
The Church of Laodicea in the first century when The Book of Revelation was written, was in a miserable condition. Outwardly, things appeared to be going great. Rich materially but lukewarm spiritually, Jesus promises that He is going to spit them out like a tepid hocker. The Prosperity Health and Wealth Gospel is not a recent phenomenon.
Their works were apathetic: (15) "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot." Both hot and cold show energy and commitment. Lukewarm is what happens to a cold cup of water or a piping hot mug of coffee through inattention.
It is never safe to assume that if the circumstances of our lives seem positive that this is proof that we are where we need to be with God. Neither can we assume that if circumstances seem negative, that somehow God has is displeased with us. Our state and status in Eternity is the issue.
I was subscribing to a daily devotional for a season where the writer penned thoughts about the faith, writing the sphere of business and the marketplace. Overall, the man seems sincere and is doing a good work. But, there were two posts of his within days of each other that caused me to cancel.
Both centered on the power of prayer and he used personal stories for both devotionals. One piece detailed how his daughter wanted a certain color of a cute sports car. After weeks of disappointment, God provided the exact car and color that she wanted. The writer mentioned how this was a faith-building event for his daughter. The second piece recounted how the writer was able to go out golfing the day after knee surgery to the amazement of his doctor who thought it would take weeks of rehab before being able to play. Prayer apparently substituted for physical therapy.
I am not saying that God is not concerned about transportation or a return to health. Yet, as an outsider, it seemed that these examples were pretty lame stories. I am imagined someone dying of cancer in the hospital who used to play golf reading the devotional and being very discouraged by the writer's self-centered superficial illustrations as some great example of God at work. A truly miraculous story would be someone who is suffering the loss of all things (health and wealth) and yet who still praises the Lord through the hot tears and groans. Soon thereafter, I pulled the plug on getting the devotional.
We can be a great discouragement to others by thinking that our minor trials and tribulations somehow give us an empathy for their deeper sorrows and sufferings. If you live with a roof over your head, food in your gut, and a shirt on your back, you are already probably better off than 95% of the people who ever have lived. A car and golfing probably elevate you to the top 1%. Not sure if my numbers are entirely accurate but you get the point.
Prosperity often diminishes and dulls our mercy for those who have true misery--and that makes us miserable. Jesus promises to bring true trials rather than pseudo-disappointments to shake us up out of our luxurious lethargy: 19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." Like Thomas Jefferson, I fear for my country when considering Christ's warnings. He doesn't threaten untruthfully.
Seeing the miraculous in the misery is an act of grace that the world cannot compute. It doesn't add up according to the world's accounting. I thought this interview with Steph Hubach from ByFaith Magazine truly shows what this looks like.
"Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
The Church of Laodicea in the first century when The Book of Revelation was written, was in a miserable condition. Outwardly, things appeared to be going great. Rich materially but lukewarm spiritually, Jesus promises that He is going to spit them out like a tepid hocker. The Prosperity Health and Wealth Gospel is not a recent phenomenon.
Their works were apathetic: (15) "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot." Both hot and cold show energy and commitment. Lukewarm is what happens to a cold cup of water or a piping hot mug of coffee through inattention.
It is never safe to assume that if the circumstances of our lives seem positive that this is proof that we are where we need to be with God. Neither can we assume that if circumstances seem negative, that somehow God has is displeased with us. Our state and status in Eternity is the issue.
I was subscribing to a daily devotional for a season where the writer penned thoughts about the faith, writing the sphere of business and the marketplace. Overall, the man seems sincere and is doing a good work. But, there were two posts of his within days of each other that caused me to cancel.
Both centered on the power of prayer and he used personal stories for both devotionals. One piece detailed how his daughter wanted a certain color of a cute sports car. After weeks of disappointment, God provided the exact car and color that she wanted. The writer mentioned how this was a faith-building event for his daughter. The second piece recounted how the writer was able to go out golfing the day after knee surgery to the amazement of his doctor who thought it would take weeks of rehab before being able to play. Prayer apparently substituted for physical therapy.
I am not saying that God is not concerned about transportation or a return to health. Yet, as an outsider, it seemed that these examples were pretty lame stories. I am imagined someone dying of cancer in the hospital who used to play golf reading the devotional and being very discouraged by the writer's self-centered superficial illustrations as some great example of God at work. A truly miraculous story would be someone who is suffering the loss of all things (health and wealth) and yet who still praises the Lord through the hot tears and groans. Soon thereafter, I pulled the plug on getting the devotional.
We can be a great discouragement to others by thinking that our minor trials and tribulations somehow give us an empathy for their deeper sorrows and sufferings. If you live with a roof over your head, food in your gut, and a shirt on your back, you are already probably better off than 95% of the people who ever have lived. A car and golfing probably elevate you to the top 1%. Not sure if my numbers are entirely accurate but you get the point.
Prosperity often diminishes and dulls our mercy for those who have true misery--and that makes us miserable. Jesus promises to bring true trials rather than pseudo-disappointments to shake us up out of our luxurious lethargy: 19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." Like Thomas Jefferson, I fear for my country when considering Christ's warnings. He doesn't threaten untruthfully.
Seeing the miraculous in the misery is an act of grace that the world cannot compute. It doesn't add up according to the world's accounting. I thought this interview with Steph Hubach from ByFaith Magazine truly shows what this looks like.
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