A Calling to be Poor?

I cannot tell you how many times I have thought, "maybe my calling in life is to remain strong in the midst of being poor". I am using the word poor here to mean a low income.

Before you start picturing a dirt floor I have to say that I have definitely been blessed in that we have always been able to survive and I have had things that some people have not had. I had television and cable, though it has been turned off a time or two for non payment and I have to wait to get it reinstated. We have water and power both of which I have had the joy of being disconnected. Power less than water because they charge a hefty fee to get it back on.

I mean, we always feel that others' lives are easier, better, more perfect than ours, right?

The truth is at some point I felt like maybe God had called me and my family to persevere in the midst of being poor. That somewhere there was a lesson to be learned and that He was teaching me something that I needed to learn. I stood strong believing that as soon as I had learned that lesson that somehow a miracle would come and we would finally move into the area of financial peace. For me, that meant having all bills paid, money in a savings account, groceries bought, and children clothed.

So, then I felt like finally God had given me my "sign" that I needed to finish my education and that I would find financial peace. Finally, I was going to see an end to this financial struggle. Finally I would know what it meant to have a budget that ended up without a negative balance. Finally, I could go into a store and purchase my children's clothing without wondering how to get the other bills paid or I could pay bills and not worry about the new uniform policy that was put into place and wonder how those were going to be purchased. This was going to be a new day.

Fast forward a year and four months.

Medical school is challenging enough for the financed student but I have to take an online masters program to pay for my living expenses.

And once again, I began to think that same thing, "maybe I am called to be poor. Maybe God wants me to have to beg and take handouts?"

I had planned to look up scripture about God calling people to give up their possessions, but I happened upon a planner that I had downloaded a sample of a long time ago (I didn't have the money to buy it). There amongst the florally decorated pages of "The Well Planned Day" I found a devotional entitled "Use Means but don't trust in means, trust in God". I wasn't looking for this, I was just going through some of my computer folders trying to get rid of the junk. (A quick plug for this planner, I think it would be well worth purchasing and I have even wanted to purchase one for my children even though we don't homeschool any longer. The devotionals and the layout are fantastic.)

The devotional basically says that we should work so that we can do the Lord's work. So that we have means to do the Lord's work. I have been saying all along, that what I wanted most to come from me being a doctor is to be able to have the means to give and to have a place where women can come together and have bible studies. Finally, it seems that what I had in my heart was what the Lord had given us scripture to tell us to do, I just didn't have the scripture to back it up. Now I have the scripture, and I plan to use this scripture to get me through those days when I feel like I am "called to be poor" to remind myself that God needs for me to work and have means so that I can do his work.

My calling is not to be poor. My calling is to succeed in all things. My calling is to put on my coat of armor, and trudge through medical school so that I can reach my full potential and serve him with the means that He ultimately provided for me. 1 Thess. 4:11-12, 2 Thess. 3:10-12, Eph 4:28

If you stop by and read my blog, leave me a note and let me know. You don't have to follow my blog, but you can if you want to. I hope that someone reads these passages and gets His message for them.

Blessings,
Amy