On Sunday I was sitting in the car after church when God started speaking to me.
"You don't believe I'm Your Father."
I answered back, "Yes I do."
I call Him Abba all the time, in public, even though I'm sure some find it weird. I know God as my Father.
"Then you don't believe I'm a good Father."
"Yes I do."
"Then why do you have needs?"
When I pray, I would tell Him what I needed.
"I need..." "I also need..."
He retrained me in the car that day to go from, "I need" to "I want" to "Give me today my daily bread."
The difference was in my belief first. "My daily bread." It's already mine.
If God is my Father, and God owns it all, then I own it all, too.
The child of a rich parent is a rich child. And it's no different with God. No, He is not a vending machine, but when I tell you God loves providing for His children much more than we love providing for ours, believe me.
Once you are His child, you do not approach Him as a beggar any more than you would want one of your children doing the same.
We are not better, more loving, more responsible parents than God is.
I wasn't raised to think like this. Rather, I was raised to think here was some kind of holiness in poverty and it was proof that one was dedicated to God and not the things of this world. I thought it was the calling of believers to struggle because, for the most part, that's all I saw. The few believers who did well, did so outside of anything spiritual.
Without realizing it I made the connection: the world can take better care of me than God. This actually translates to "satan can provide for me better than God."
Being poor = holy. Being taken care of meant you were worldly.
But two things 1) Nobody think about money more than those who need it and 2) There is no one better to be a person of means than someone who puts God first because we are willing and able to do good with it.
In the car that morning, God taught me to ask, not from need, because as His child, I do not have any. He has no needs, so I do not either.
I am joint-heirs with Jesus in ever single way. I am healed in every single way. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.
What I learned that morning is that we hold back from believing that God's goodness and Fatherhood extends to every area of our lives because we are afraid. Our faith reaches our knees instead of flying over our heads because we don't want to seem like that rich young ruler who Jesus knew would not choose Him over shiny things.
It's true that the love of money lead to all kinds of evil. But the same goes for anything placed on the throne of our hearts. Anyone who has lived in poverty knows the evils it leads to as well.
It is possible to be financially provided for by God. He wants to provide more than the bare minimum to scrape by. As with the fishes an the loaves, I've learned God doesn't do bare minimum. Jesus pulled a gold coin out of the fish's mouth to pay for his taxes and Peter's, too.
When He was teaching me to not pray, "I need," it was almost as if the statement coupled with an orphan-esque position of faith, offended Him.
He wanted me to ask from a place of being a rich child of a rich Father, not a poor child of a distance or deadbeat Father.
James 1:7 says that without faith, one should not expect to receive anything from God.
This isn't about making being Dubai rich the central focus of one's life, but coming into the fullness of your identity in Christ and what it means on earth and what it means in heaven. This isn't about storing up treasures where moth and rust destroy, but living rather than surviving and being able to bless others, too.
"But what about poor believers around the world." There are people who are being oppressed financially by their governments and various states the enemy takes, and there are people who are being oppressed by unbelief.
The existence of believers needing our help around the world is even more reason to come fully into faith with God's provision so we can help our siblings, rather than use them as an excuse for our own state of lack, especially if we are in a country that doesn't make it a prerequisite.
There is no inherent holiness in poverty. Poverty is not of God. God is not in heaven counting dimes.
I am telling you today, He wants us focused on our callings in this life and individual kingdom work and corporate calling to make disciples and not sweating through the night wondering how we'll pay this and pay that. It's a bad and self-focused use of time and energy.
A life lived in fear of one's bank account is not His desire. This I know to be true.
"But what about Jesus saying it's easier for a rich man to enter an eye of a needle than heaven?"
Jesus said this right after His interaction with the rich young ruler who placed his earthly possessions over following God. When Jesus spoke to people, He saw into their hearts and lives and spoke to them based on what He saw. He didn't ask the Samaritan woman to, "Go and bring your husband" randomly. He knew she had a past (and present) situation that when addressed would show she was being and what He came to do.
When He asked the ruler to sell His belongings, He did so already knowing this young man's heart was tied to his possessions above all else. If having enough money to live on without daily worry would cause idolatry in your life, then yes, staying poor might be better. But like Paul, I have lived with and without and have been content with both. I'm not like the rich young ruler.
If you know you would follow Jesus when you could take care of your family, then perhaps He has better for you.
Poverty theology is real. A person will take Pauls' letters to the Thessalonians where he says he is content in all states (which is important to be) and use it to mean they should be ok with being poor forever. Paul also said in 1 Thessalonians 4:
"Indeed I have all and abound."
"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
There is nothing more self-focused than being constantly worried about money. We have a Father. Bring your faith. You are a royal child of God.
You're a rich kid in every single way.
Knowing this, believing it, has quickly changed so many things. For one, I know I have the power through God to help others. My biggest desire right now is to create jobs for work-at-home moms, single moms, and moms in need.
The minute you really understand who your Father is and that yes, He takes care of you, the focus can come off on just believing for good for yourself, but how you can be a blessing because when you love Jesus, you take after Him.
What better life than one spent feeding people the bread of the earth and the Bread of Life? Helping quench parched throats and parched hearts with the news that Jesus is here?
I have no needs. What my Father has is mine, too as He takes care of me, I'll take care of others.
Don't let a poverty-tinged theology or unbelief masked as piety rob you or the people whose lives you could help.
As uncomfortable as it might be to admit, if you're a child of God through Jesus, you're a rich kid.
Love, Bunmi
PS. The only thing other than unbelief that can get in the way of this is how you're living. In the way we discipline our kids when they do wrong, take away their toys, God can and will do the same. I've seen it. Read about holiness and live it out, treat people well, don't do stuff that He hates essentially. Have a great day.
The promises of God begin and end with Yeshua, Jesus, because He is the reconciliation. If you've been walking through life on your own and want to be a child of God, you want Him by your side through it all, here's how to begin.
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