James 1:9-11 | The Honor of Poverty & Frailty of Money

Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. 10 And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. 11 The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements. — James 1:9–11 (New Living Translation)

James begins this passage with an interesting paradox: for believers, poverty is honor from God while wealth is humiliation from God. Conventional thinking would say just the opposite, yet in God’s kingdom, what’s up is down and what’s down is up. That’s the paradox, and I think we can find some grace for our present season in these verses. Let’s say it together: we are poor. By American standards certainly, we are poor. It has been a long time since that has been true of us, but it is true now.

We have no home of our own, barely any jobs, and a rapidly dwindling bank account. We will, for the first time in a long time I think, have to really trust God for our provision, because the paychecks will be scarce and definitely not as big. But that does not matter, because in His paradoxical Providence, God has bestowed this special honor on us: poverty.

Why is poverty an honor for Christians? Does this mean we should refuse to work to better our situation? No. The honor is not in the condition of poverty itself, but in the affect it has on our faith: it teaches us to rely solely on God for our daily bread. Interestingly, I have a bit of an enlightened understanding of that now that I’m living out of a car. I have no idea what I’m going to eat tomorrow or where it will come from. You have been so gracious to feed me well, but I do not presume or expect those meals to always be there, so a little bit of peanut butter, some ham, and a few pieces of bread account for my “pantry.”

Yet I am not fearful because I know when you can’t feed and take care of me, God will. “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” (Psalm 37:25) That pretty much ends the fear of me or our family starving on the street doesn’t it?

So then, we have an opportunity to see our present financial lack as a blessing because in it God is showing us a new grace we haven’t experienced before. To go from what we were making to what we have now would seem like complete humiliation to the world, but God gave it as an honor so that we would be drawn closer to Him in faith.

The wealthy though, they are the ones whose condition is humiliating, because their riches are like the dying grass of the field that can’t survive the heat of the sun. “The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.” (v. 11) Wealth seems like honor to the world, but it is a fading honor. Money comes and goes. It cannot be trusted or relied on for security. No, we have no money for emergencies — but that doesn’t mean those emergent needs will go unmet.

So then we rejoice in our poverty, for God will feed us like He feeds the sparrows. He will clothe us like He clothes the lilies (Matthew 6:25-34). He will supply all our needs like He did the Apostle Paul’s (Philippians 4:19). He is faithful:

“God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind.” — Hebrews 6:17

So Jaime, let us not worry about money or provisions but find grace in this paradox of honor God has presently bestowed on us.

I love you, Brian

Applying it to this season of life:

1. What views might we have on money that need to be recalibrated to align with what James is teaching us here?
2. What fears or anxieties do we have about our present financial situation that need to be entrusted to God?
3. How can the “honor” of poverty serve to teach us true humility?

Praying through this season of life:

Heavenly Father, we love to call you “Father” because “Father” means provision and protection. Lord, You have never let us go hungry. We are witnesses of Your faithfulness to provide for us over and over, and now we are forced to truly rely on You again for our daily provision. Whether in poverty or abundance, we love You and we trust You. Teach us to lay our anxieties down at Your feet and just rest on You as a child does his Father. We ask that the financial pressures of this season would not add additional stress to our marriage, but that You would give us grace to talk and work through them together in faith. We ask that You help our children understand our current situation and to not worry or be sad that we can’t presently enjoy many of the things we previously enjoyed. We must find our enjoyment in each other and most of all in Christ. Keep us and our children from the Adversary in this season, for we are weak. We pray these things in our Lord’s name, AMEN.