Giving to the Poor

For Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Proverbs 28:27

Whoever gives to the poor will not want,
but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.


Giving to the poor seems a bad investment if your concern is to grow wealth or maintain your present financial status. The poor cannot return money with interest, and indeed are likely not to return money at all. They have no influence with powerful or wealthy men who could befriend you because of your generosity. The money given to them or for them does not return. And so it seems preferable to avoid noticing them. Let others help.

But this proverb makes a guarantee - provision for the giver and curses for the miser. On what basis can this be made? On the basis of the guarantee of God. It is God who watches over the poor; God who provides. Indeed, it is God who provides for everyone - both rich and poor. This is what the "haves" fail to recognize. We have money because our Father has provided for us, not because we were clever enough or hard-working enough to obtain it. Unforeseen circumstances have ruined the fortune of many gifted persons. And they have made the fortune of many not expecting such a boon.

It is true that wisdom and hard work will typically lead to security, and that folly and idleness to poverty. But it is also true that circumstances play a critical role. God is in charge of those circumstances. And it is he who gives wisdom, who gives strength and the gifts to do well. As he gives, so he can take back. Understand that we are all poor of ourselves. We have what we have because God gives to us; he can just as easily "hide his eyes" toward us, leaving us destitute and without hope. He wants us, though, to have his spirit of generosity and to leave the business of worrying about our future to him. Seek first the kingdom, which is about the generosity of the gospel, and everything you need will be added. Trust your heavenly Father. That is what giving to the poor is really about - trusting your Father and loving with the heart by which he loves.