Dear Unbeliever,

First let me thank you for taking an interest and indulging me while I share my thoughts and opinions thus far. This is part 5 of my letter so if you are just stumbling on this, please start from part 1. You wonder why we (Christian Believers), preach abundance and prosperity yet most of us are poor and miserable? Well, that cannot be enticing, can it? I mean, you don’t even believe in what we believe in yet you’re doing well on your job, you’re OK financially and have all your basic needs met while we Believers seem to be struggling to even put food on the table.

You know, for a long time I also associated Christianity with being broke and poor all the time because as I was growing up in the church, I saw most of the church members in that situation with just a handful living well. These were usually made chairmen or supporters of church events and it was always the same set of people. The rest of the members could barely make ends meet, their landlords were kicking them out for the most part and literally in survival mode all the time. Apart from the people I saw, my own household was in that range. There were some days of comfort and some days of survival but I was still seeing God move and use my mother mightily. For a while I thought God doesn’t keep His word – why should my mother, who chose to live religiously and serve Him with all she had, go broke some days? While she made sure that we had everything we needed, I didn’t have everything I wanted. To be honest with you – that drove my desire and pursuit to even leave my country, come and settle here in the USA and for a very long time, my idea was to work my behind off to get all the things I needed and wanted in life. Well, that journey has been an interesting one that we will have to chat about some day. God has blessed my efforts and now that I know better, it has truly been Him who allows me to have any and everything I have been able to get in this land thus far. I will not even try to pretend here that I do anything on my strength. Whatever breadth I have, it’s just by His mercy and grace and He daily replenishes me and expands my capacity.

As I started to study the bible, I noticed how God was very sympathetic to the poor and strongly encouraged us to look out for them and support them. So, I asked myself, why did He allow people to be poor if He knows it’s not a good thing? I mean the bible says the “…earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof” – Psalm 24:1 KJV, which means that if we call ourselves children of the most high God, then we really should lack nothing but we lack so much. To add to my confusion, I found this scripture: Proverbs 22:2 ESV; The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all. Did God really make some rich and others poor? I don’t think so and here’s why. He revealed through Jeremiah 29:11 that He had plans for us when He was forming us – these plans were actually to prosper us and give us HOPE for the future. Poverty and lack doesn’t look like hope and prosperity to me. So NO, He didn’t create some rich and some poor. However, He blesses us according to our abilities and capacity to handle the things He bestows on us.

I have come to see and believe that most Christians are broke and poor because of our mindsets and understanding of the things of God. We still lack those principles of creating financial independence and building wealth because we sit in churches that do not teach a balanced doctrine. The spiritual growth and personal growth of individuals should be taught hand in hand. Feeding the spirit alone is not enough, we need to give Believers the Kingdom tools needed to grow financially as well. Jesus is a huge advocate for our financial success. He doesn’t want to see us lack when we are living in a Kingdom filled with abundance. For those who also receive these tools, they don’t put it to practice. Somehow, they believe that it will divinely happen that one day they will wake up and there will be millions sitting in their bank accounts. That’s called magic – not God’s hand. Don’t get me wrong, I have seen God divinely intervene in financial situations especially with me that blew my mind but He did it in such a way that I wasn’t sitting there waiting for it to fall from the skies. He presented the opportunities and with prayer and obedience, I trusted Him and worked these opportunities. Then, He used the opportunities to bless me. I secretly wished He would have just given it to me without my effort at all but, how else would I have matured? If He had to spoon feed us with everything, we will forever be infants looking for milk. King Solomon with divine wisdom taught us to go to the ant and learn its way, (Proverbs 6:6-11 paraphrased). This advise has fallen through the sides of the ears of most believers. We snooze and slug as if every day were a Christmas holiday. We don’t develop habits of effectiveness and efficiency.

I have also seen the work ethics of most believers and it’s nothing to write home about. The bible admonishes us to work at everything as if we are working for the Lord, (Colossians 3:23 paraphrased) but most Christians don’t obey this order from God. Honestly, most people wished they didn’t have to work at all but somehow magically made money. The tardiness, dishonesty on the job and just doing enough to get paid mentality is why most Believers will continue to lack in this Kingdom. In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus gave a parable and most of us Christians are like that man who had the one talent and went to hide it. We cheat the employer – using work time for our personal stuff and God is quietly watching it all. Some of us have done it for so long we actually believe God approves of it and we are literally shocked the day He strikes. Your employer is also asking for God’s help to protect him from cheating men and bless his business so he can bless others – who do you think God will listen to and help? Your employer because he is blessing more people in God’s kingdom than you are! If there is one thing I have come to know about God and not to mess with at all, it is that He is a God of principles and He will NOT compromise who He is for anyone. He said in His word that when your obedience is complete, He will punish all disobedience which means if I don’t obey, I’m at the mercy of whatever life throws at me as He will not defend me (2 Corinthians 10:6 paraphrased). God hates disobedience and most Christians are rebels when it comes to obeying God. Hence our suffering.

The other reason I found as to why Christians are broke is because most of us have not mastered the principles of stewardship in the Kingdom of God. We are not owners; we are stewards of whatever God blesses us with including our children. Unfortunately, most of us have managed our lives very poorly. Lack of financial management has landed us broke and some poor. Don’t get me wrong, there have been real catastrophes that are beyond human control which landed most people in debt and other tough financial situations. Satan knows where to hit Believers hard and it’s in our financial independence. He will not let you get there because His goal it to steal our time to focus on anything else but God. If you’re working 3+ jobs here and there just to make ends meet, where will you find the time and energy to study the word of God and even pray? In most unforeseen financial hardships, God in His mercy intervenes by giving us a pathway to get out of it. BUT, there are some people who had and have no reason to be in lack or poverty if you see the amount of income and resources God has blessed them with. A lot of us have not learned to live within our means or save for raining days. Whatever we see we must own it and here lies our pathway to being broke. There are Christians who feel the need to have a new outfit for church every Sunday and guess what, if you have the means do it but if it renders you broke, why do it?

A lot of Christians are also afraid to give because we believe we won’t have enough left. We haven’t learned the principles of blessing others with our time, money and resources. Giving activates reciprocity. Giving sows a seed in people lives – as they pray and thank you with their “God bless You”, the heavens hear them and they return it to you. The law of cause and effect which is also called Karma, is at work in us every day, every time. What you put out will come to you. We should never forget that. When you give it will be given to you, when you take it will be taken from you. That’s why some people always have enough to lend while others never have enough but always borrow.

My dear Unbeliever, it looks as if I am agreeing with you on most of your concerns about us and you are right – I do agree with you because I see these issues front and center as well and I will not cover up anything to deceive you into coming to Christ. On this issue of poverty and lack, I can go on for pages but I hope I have given you enough reasons to understand why we preach abundance and prosperity yet we struggle, while you are thriving on your jobs even when you don’t believe in God. You see, the same principles you apply to your lives to create your financial independence and wealth is available for us all but most of us Believers are disobedient and we don’t use them. Being in Christ and following Christ does not mean you should lose your principles of building financial independence. You have to apply them because God wants us to prosper to that we can live comfortably, bless His Kingdom and bless the rest of the world. I also believe in spiritual manipulation, territorial effects and etc. that have genuinely rendered some people poor and these are the people God encourages us to help and be there for them.  I know a God who blesses efforts and can deliver you from any and every situation.

As you go about your week, I pray that you will remain diligent in whatever the Lord has blessed you with. If there is any financial door that is closed in your life, may the Lord open it for you. May the Lord give some of us a second chance to be good stewards of the things He will bless us with. Above all, may the grace of the Lord that gives us the power to create wealth rest on all of us this week and always. AMEN!

To be continued…

XOXO,

Lady Abena.