I don' think we'll do the same even if we wanted to.
By same I don't mean identical. People are very opinionated about wealth without realizing behavior is a continuum. You don't become a different person with greater means. You reveal more of who you are within. Most of the platitudes are without merit and if you look closely you'll see they aren't doing the same where they are.
The widow is a great example. She gave what she had but the heart behind it was the real tale. If most possessed the same we wouldn't have so many instances of people failing when wealth or prominence arrived. They were always lacking. The spotlight revealed what the shadow hid.
I've studied the rise and fall of men and women for years. Christian and otherwise. There are tell-take signs in the natural and spiritual. I compared my findings early in my walk and devised a hit list of sorts that addressed the most common ways for demise. Then I looked at myself to see where I fell short to prevent the same. Most of my convictions are the result of introspections like that.
Yet the Holy Spirit wasn't the reason we became poor. My parents got into bad investments for unGodly reasons. I left my lucractive job and career for unGodly reasons too. It is our fault. It is the reason why I sometimes worry we'll never come out of this predicament because we defied the Lord.
I wish the church put more attention on wisdom and the necessity for discernment. I include the scriptures frequently for the reasons you've shared. Poor decisions can be far reaching. We've all made them. But some have greater consequences than others.
I wouldn't have the knowledge I possess financially without a bad experience. I would have pursued my studies in medicine and become a surgeon but my health failed. Sometimes breakdowns are breakthroughs in disguise but we must make peace with our failings. You can't beat yourself up, get enraged or depressed. You have to learn from the experience and relinquish the hurt. I wasn't a Christian then. I believed in God but I wasn't planted in a church or being taught. I used what I had. Would I do things differently today? Of course.
I left the workforce without a plan. I was young and wanted out. Some of it was entrepreneurial and some was unknown. I wanted to be a stay-at-home wife but there was no one around to explain. I spent a lot of years figuring things out when I could have been settled. That's why I help others in that area because I know how it feels.
But who's to say I would have succeeded? Choices made within the Lord and without are different. You've learned a lesson others have probably experienced or they're heading in that direction. How can you use it to honor Him? Sometimes you have to empty the vessel first before it's refilled.
You have a lot in your head and that's part of the problem. It's pulling you in different directions. He's competing with all of that. When the problem is financial you need solitude and clarity. The stress makes things unbearable and its hard to focus.
The lone question I'd have in those circumstances is how to resolve it and use what I've learned for His glory. The other stuff can wait and most of it looks different under a new light. Answering the question will resolve a lot.
You see things literally and there's nothing wrong with that. But things of God aren't always black and white as the proverbs thread demonstrates. You need a counterpoint and your discourse with
@GospelS reveals that. She sees the part you don't and when you're seeking answers it's a must. You esteem the supernatural. That has its place but it's largely distracting.
Sometimes the answers are before us but we're too blind to see them. One meditation becomes another. One story builds upon the next and with time (pun intended) and consistency we've produced a book, a website or a channel. We put one foot before the next and keep trusting Him while we share what we've learned. People do the same everyday. If you can do that here you can do it elsewhere.
~bella
