Introduction

Would you rather have an endless supply of brownies or of ice cream? Would you rather lose your sense of hearing or your sense of sight? Would you rather be sneezed on or coughed on?

We’ve played this game before: “Would you rather?” It’s supposed to be a difficult game for us to play because we’re forced to choose between two seemingly equal choices.

Well, here’s a biblical “Would you rather?” question: “Would you rather have wealth or poverty?” You laugh, but in the Bible, we’re given both as examples of what God can do. God uses those of all financial circumstances in the kingdom. So, this is actually meant to be a difficult “Would you rather?” question for us.

So how might we begin to decide if we should desire wealth or poverty?

I think one Proverbs writer gives us a clue.

(Read Prov. 30:7-9)

The Role of Wealth

When faced with this biblical “Would you rather?” question, the Proverbs writer first begins by addressing the role of wealth. The Proverbs writer tells us that we should not desire wealth because desiring wealth makes us forget who God is.

Verse nine says, “[if we have wealth], if [we] have too much, [we] may disown the Lord.”

Disown God. That’s harsh language.

A few years ago, I had some friends who were finally able to adopt this beautiful girl they had been fostering for six years. It was a long, difficult, and hard process, but they were finally able to give this girl their last name. Some of you may have gone through the adoption process and know the love and the sacrifice that goes into it. Or you may know someone who has experienced this.

Now, imagine with me that this beloved adopted daughter, on the day she turns 18, decides that she doesn’t need her family anymore. In fact, she can go make her own money and her own choices. She doesn’t even need the name that’s been given to her. So, she changes it, disowns them. As if the love, work, and sacrifice that went into her adoption is worthless in comparison to what she can provide for herself.

I wonder how often we think that money and wealth will solve all our problems? How often do we think: If I can just get enough money than maybe I will be able to rest! If I can just pay off these student loans and this debt that I have, then I will be okay! If I can just have this job, then things will be alright! How often do we fantasize about winning the lottery as if our problems will vanish?

We forget in that process that it is God who gives abundantly; that all wealth in heaven and on earth belongs to God. And we forget that our adoption into the family of God was paid with great sacrifice.

Desiring Wealth Makes Us Forget Who God Is

So, if that’s the case, then why not just desire poverty? I think we get our answer for that too in the text. Verse nine says that if we’re poor, we may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of our God.

So, in the same way that desiring wealth makes us forget who God is, desiring poverty also makes us forget who God is.

In the animated Disney movie, Aladdin, we find out quickly that Jasmine is fed up with her life. She doesn’t like the rules and the regulations of being a princess and so she runs away to the marketplace. She sees this little boy who is hungry and poor. Without really thinking, she grabs an apple from a fruit cart and gives it to this little boy. But the owner of the fruit cart goes, “Hey! You thief! That’s stealing! You can’t do that!” And she says, “I don’t have any money … I don’t have anything to give you.”

This movie is so frustrating to watch as a viewer because you want to yell at her: “You’re a princess! Your dad is literally the king! You are heir to this fortune!”

It’s all fun and games, and we laugh about it when it is a Disney character, but how often are we the same? Proverbs tells us that we do the very same thing.

Desiring Poverty Makes Us Forget Who God Is

I know what you may be thinking: I’ve never stolen anything. Surely this doesn’t apply to me. Besides all that, we live in America, the wealthiest country in the world. The poorest among us pales in comparison to the poverty faced in other parts of the world. So surely, we don’t have a poverty problem.

But I wonder how many of us good church kids came back from a mission and thought we had to throw away everything we own and give it to the poor because we’ve experienced poverty and feel guilty? We cheat God out of the glory of the conviction and the transformation that comes from that.

Or us, college students and seminarians? We get to Sunday morning, and we have nothing to give in the offering plate. Woe is us! Even though we spent $6 on a cup of coffee everyday that week. We steal from God and pretend like we’re always poor out of necessity and not sometimes because of our own choices.

Besides all that, we are in the middle of the season of Lent. It is a season where we intentionally give up something and become a little bit poorer as an act of worship. But in the season of Lent, how poor are we and how rich are our social media feeds? Woe is us! It is so hard to keep up with these practices that we have given ourselves! And then when we come out the other side and we’re a brand-new person, how proud of ourselves we are. We have stuck with it and done well. As if the work of transformation does not always come from God Almighty. We cheat God out of the glory that he wishes to show through our lives.

Desiring God Makes Us Remember Who God Is

Friends, desiring poverty makes us forget who God is. So, what do we do?!

Because in life, it seems like we are put in between these choices: wealth and poverty. But if desiring wealth makes us forget who God is, AND desiring poverty makes us forget who God is, then what do we do?

Verse eight tells us, “Give me neither poverty nor riches but give me only my daily bread.” When we hear that phrase, “daily bread,” it’s almost impossible not to be transported back to Exodus.

In Exodus chapter 16, the people of God are living in between poverty and wealth. They have just escaped slavery in Egypt, and they are headed to the Promised Land. But right now, they are somewhere in the middle… and they are growing frustrated.

Like you and I, they have believed the lie that wealth and poverty are their only two options. So, in their frustration, they cried out to God. And thanks be to God, that we have a God who answers!

Exodus 16:4 says, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.” When the people living in between poverty and wealth cry out to God, God provides them daily bread.

God is the giver of daily bread! I don’t know about you, but I am in need of some daily bread. Some of us are exhausted and can be reminded that God brings refreshment. Some of us are broken and can be reminded that God restores. Some of us are lonely and can be reminded that God weeps with us and sees us. Some of us are dead inside and can be reminded that God is still in the business of resurrection.

Conclusion

Desiring God make us remember who God is. And God is still in the business of bringing daily bread.

As we walk through this broken world, we will experience difficulty. All too often, we think there are only two options. So, we run from this thing to that thing.

But in those moments, might we plant our feet and join with the Proverb’s writer, begging the Lord, “Do not refuse me God!” “Give me only the daily bread.”

Because desiring God makes us remember who God is.

Hannah Brown graduated with an MDiv from George W. Truett Theological Seminary.