In God We Trust?
A reading for Monday, October 12, 2015: 1 Kings 17:8-16.
Trusting in God is easier when all our basic needs are already met. Yet, is our trust in such times really in God? Or is it in our own ability to control and care for ourselves?
I am always amazed in how the poor among us seem to be able to articulate faith in God. When all you own is in a backpack on the floor next to you, then what else can you trust in but God? When you are dependent on others for basic food and shelter, where can you go to find rest but in God? Some of the most faithful witnesses to God I have known have been those living in utter poverty.
Elijah commands the widow to give the last measure of all she owns in service to him. It sounds cruel to us. How can Elijah ask her to give all she has left? Yet, she is faithful and more so, God is faithful too. The last measure of meal and oil never runs out, perhaps because she no longer trusts in her own ability to provide but in God's.
In the middle ages, monks taking a vow of poverty did so thankfully and with gratitude because they knew that only in poverty would they be able to truly trust in God. Poverty was a gift they believed. Utter dependence on God was a way to more fully experience faith.
Surely none of us would intentionally choose poverty, but it does seem like we are challenged to fully trust in God when we have so many other ways to trust.
Trusting in God is easier when all our basic needs are already met. Yet, is our trust in such times really in God? Or is it in our own ability to control and care for ourselves?
I am always amazed in how the poor among us seem to be able to articulate faith in God. When all you own is in a backpack on the floor next to you, then what else can you trust in but God? When you are dependent on others for basic food and shelter, where can you go to find rest but in God? Some of the most faithful witnesses to God I have known have been those living in utter poverty.
Elijah commands the widow to give the last measure of all she owns in service to him. It sounds cruel to us. How can Elijah ask her to give all she has left? Yet, she is faithful and more so, God is faithful too. The last measure of meal and oil never runs out, perhaps because she no longer trusts in her own ability to provide but in God's.
In the middle ages, monks taking a vow of poverty did so thankfully and with gratitude because they knew that only in poverty would they be able to truly trust in God. Poverty was a gift they believed. Utter dependence on God was a way to more fully experience faith.
Surely none of us would intentionally choose poverty, but it does seem like we are challenged to fully trust in God when we have so many other ways to trust.
Comments
Post a Comment