The Pity Party
Every once in a while, and probably more often than I’d like, I go down the road of the pity party. Usually around paycheck time, having given all of my hard earned cash away to pay for rent, utilities and numerous debts which I am ashamed to have. It feels like a mountain of payments that I have to make and I feel like I will never get ahead. Woe is me.
After that comes the grand visions and schemes of getting a second job to pad the income or perhaps building some mega-awesome new website or product that will make me tons of money. After all more money will solve the problem, right? I mean it even says so in the bible! Ecclesiastes 10:19 says, “A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything.” Isn’t that what it says? lol Well, before you make a theology out of that please go read the full text.
Global Perspectives
Of course it usually isn’t too far behind that my patient Father in heaven gives me a little nudge. Be thankful! For what? Just look around!
I’m a senior software engineer and in that field I do pretty well monetarily speaking, especially considering the area I live in which has a pretty low cost of living. If you broaden the scope to everyone in this area that bumps me up even higher. I’m sure compared nationally with the entire population I would rank pretty far at the top. That would really drive the point home… I make a lot of money.
After some searching on the internet I found this site called the Global Rich List, that made feel completely awful. It’s a calculator that shows you how you fair on a global scale. Now obviously this is purely an estimation with some assumptions made about yearly salaries, etc, etc. But even so… I put in what I made yearly and the site said that I was in the top 1% of the world. Wow! Was I just complaining? That is really embarrassing when I stack my slight discomforts against the reality of what families all over this world have to make it on every day. People are starving even in my own country. Getting medical help can be problematic in many places. I could on and on, but you see my point. We live in a rich nation and we are spoiled.
Scripture – What Does God Say?
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.