While peeling potatoes, I heard, “Poverty is an occult form of control.” How? I wondered.
When you put two people next to each other, you see they both have functioning bodies, functioning minds, lots of unique talents and skillsets, a beautiful face and personality. With training in character and skills, a motivated person who believes in themselves can achieve anything they put their mind to. The presence or absence of cash in the bank isn’t truly an obstacle because money can be made plus investors are drawn to people who have vision and the passion to see it through. They are drawn to people who focus on what they DO have instead of complaining about what they don’t have.
Poverty elevates comfort over productivity, immediate gratification over the hard work of sowing those first seeds believing they will produce a hundred fold harvest. Poverty blinds people to the fact that the sacrifice to produce something, be it a piece of art to sell or to get up early to arrive at work before starting time (producing an excellent character) is always much less sacrifice in the long run than the fur-lined shackles of poverty. Poverty makes people easier to control and manipulate.
Those growing up in church circles have likely heard ad nauseum, “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” I’m here to tell you that is not always true. “But it’s in the Bible!” you say. Yes, it is. However, many who quote the verse are declaring it with the hidden intent to control you to obey THEM, not necessarily to obey God. Obedience to a gang lord ordering you to sell drugs or to a foolish friend telling you to jump off a bridge to prove your bravery comes with severe sacrifice. Take it a little closer to home – obeying a pastor telling you you’re not allowed to lead that Bible study that God gave you the download for or not to go on that missions trip that God opened the door for because it’s not endorsed by the pastor who rebukes those who desire to support you because it “robs” him of resources for his kingdom development can sacrifice your destiny on the altar of Fear of Man.
We ought to obey God, rather than men. When they agree, great! When they contradict, choose God and His commandments first. You’ll always come out the winner in the long run.
Poverty will attack a person’s identity by shackling them to lies that impose a mask upon them, much like Hannibal Lecter’s mask in Silence of the Lambs. Poverty will whisper in your ear (or yell!) that you’re just like your father, you’ll never be good enough, Why bother? You’ll fail anyway, so don’t risk being hurt on the crash landing. Nothing good will ever happen to you – it may happen to others but not you. Everyone will reject you and your ideas.
So here’s a challenge. Confront the lies Poverty has whispered all your life. They key to overcoming poverty is being willing to try, try, and try again like the “Try-Try Butterfly.”
For the first part of his life, he was a devouring caterpillar, covered in prickly thorns to ensure no one ever got close enough to devour him. One day, he finally reached the point of hating what he was, his lot in life ,and spun himself a cocoon (technically a chrysalis for those nerds reading this).
It was at that point of surrender, of death to self, of not caring about what he was anymore that a spark of hope touched his heart. He dared to hope when he realized he hadn’t actually died when he surrendered. He dared to look forward to what he could become. With that spark, a mystical transformation began to happen.
In the secret place, the thorns began to dissolve. His visage began to soften. The sharp tongue transformed into a fountain where nectar could flow. The thick layer of bumpy protective covering gave way to beautiful wings of brilliant orange with distinct black pathways that no longer blurred trying to please everyone. Those wings would not only let him rise with the wind to see the world from a different viewpoint of how everything fit together, everything in its place, but his wings would also aid in spreading fruitfulness wherever he went, sharing the seed of others from place to place. No longer would he see the repulsed looks as his presence was discovered. Rather, he would see their eyes brighten and smiles stretch wide. Their faces lit up contagiously as they beheld the beauty before them. Face to face the smiles would spread, further than the butterfly would be able to see.
Alas, Try-Try would never get to see the transformation he had undergone while hidden in the secret place until he was willing to try, try, and try again to break out of the cocoon he had spun around himself. Would he persevere for the breakthrough? Would he fight for his future, a future that he has no idea what it would hold? No one could help him at this point because a well-meaning person trying to assist him out of the cocoon would end up destroying him in the process. Someone else trying to help unfold those wet wings and flap them for him would destroy the delicate design that God had built for only him to control and maneuver. Would he trust that God had given him the strength to spread those wings and fly?
Fight for your future! Fight to fly! Fight to become all that God designed for you to become! Fight to fulfill your purpose because in doing so, you are not only fulfilling your destiny but enabling all those around you to possess their destinies, also!
(**Side note – the imagery God used in this vision was the life cycle of a Painted Lady Butterfly. They manifested in the millions both in California and Israel around Purim 2019, the season that Mordecai’s second decree gave the Jews permission to fight for their lives and plunder their enemies, thwarting Haman’s wicked plot to kill them and take their wealth into Babylon’s treasuries.)
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