Helping Without Hurting: The Bible and the PoorExemplo

Treasure

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Cor. 12:9)

Overwhelmed. Once you begin to think about the reality of poverty, there is a danger of being overcome by the seemingly insurmountable needs around you. You don’t know where to begin, how to address the root causes of problems, how to make a difference. You feel small and weak. And yet you know that the call of Scripture to serve and seek justice for the materially poor is clear.

Grace. The good news is that we do not have to be adequate. In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul hears the Lord telling him "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Elsewhere we are reminded that we have this treasure—that is, life in Christ—in clay pots, not in fine jars, to remind us that it is the all-surpassing power of God that lives in us, that we can boast only in Christ and not ourselves. There is great comfort in knowing that weakness is no liability, that God will work out His will in us quite apart from us and yet in part through us. Just as God is at work in the lives and communities of people who are poor, He is at work in our broken lives. Grace abounds in apparent weakness.

Begin. When facing the enormity of material poverty, begin in your own weakness. Confess your own inadequacy and brokenness—your lack of wisdom, resources, and skills—and yet acknowledge the power of God to use finite people. Also pray for humility to recognize how the materially poor, those the world would call “weak,” are being used mightily by God in their own communities. Pray for wisdom to know where to begin and what to do as you walk alongside the materially poor, relying on Christ’s reconciling work to heal the brokenness in both of you. Offer your weakness in humility, and watch God work through your faithful obedience.

Jesus, I know I am poor in spirit. Give me eyes to see Your glory among both the spiritually and materially poor, and give me perseverance as I seek to love the materially poor in both word and deed.