Close-up hand of boxer at the moment of impact on punching bag over black background. Strength and motivation.
Poverty is a disease that has affected almost every society, tribe, and race. The tears brought by poverty are more than the tears brought by death itself. Many dreams have been shattered, many people have lost hope, due to lack of financial means to sustain whatever goals and visions they carry. Many men and women had bright ideas, great visions, and mind-blowing goals but because of lack, they could not see it materialise. Children are dying and some are carrying responsibilities bigger than them, they are now fathering their siblings whilst they still need the care of a father. Poverty has destroyed families. Families are separated in search of greener pastures. Men leave their families, leaving their wives behind looking after the kids, in worse situations, children being left alone without any voice to give them direction.
It is the time for us as a society to wedge war against this disease, the disease greater than Cancer, HIV or Ebola, the disease poverty. I define poverty as lacking enough resource to perform the assignment that God has given you. Lest we forget, when one is wedging war, it is of paramount importance to plan. Jesus said who among you can go to war without first counting how many soldiers he has. In our planning, we must also spy on our enemy to study the enemy, to know his strengths and weaknesses, to study the type of society poverty favours, the type of people it likes spending time with and most importantly types of people it runs away from. Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 11b, “For we are not ignorant of his devices”. We can never fight an enemy we do not know and win. Moses had to spend forty years in Pharaoh’s palace analysing the system. The power of every enemy lies in not being known that he’s an enemy. The children of Israel came to Egypt and lived for 400 years. They lived at peace with Pharaoh because they did not see anything wrong with being slaves. This gave Pharaoh power of them. Malcom X once said, “The most pathetic thing is for a slave who doesn’t know that he’s a slave”. The children of Israel only had their deliverance when they realised that the Egyptian system was using them for their own good. Deliverance cannot come when you think that your enemy is your friend. You can never fight poverty when you still think it’s the will of God. The day you change your mind over an issue is the day you’re ready to face it.
Acts chapter 16 verse 17 to 19 gives an account of how Apostle Paul casted out a demon from a damsel that was possessed. The bible says Paul passed through the place where the girl was for many days. He did not cast the demon, not because he didn’t have the power to, but rather he did not know that the girl was an enemy (was possessed). The day he knew that she was possessed is the day he was able to cast out the demon. Although Paul had the power, his power was not put into action until he realized that the girl was an enemy, hence power without information is useless. Most of us have potential to fight poverty but we just don’t know that it’s an enemy that’s why we still live in harmony with it, we still think it’s the will of God.
In the same story, the bible says, Paul being grieved, turned, and said to the spirit, “I command you”. The first thing that he did was to be grieved. The word grieved means to be sorrowful, to be less comfortable. The day he became less comfortable about the girl’s prophesies is the day he cast out the demon. Certain people are still in their situations and problems because they are not yet grieved. They are still comfortable with where they are. The moment we become less comfortable about lack in our lives is the day we can only stand and wedge a war against poverty. Although adaption is good under certain circumstances, let us not adapt to a life of lack. 2nd King chapter 6 verse 25 narrates a story of the famine in Samaria. The famine was so deadly to the extent that doves were being sold for 5 pieces of silver and certain parents went to the extent of boiling their son and cooked him. Instead of boiling the enemy, they boiled their son. They stopped fighting the enemy but changed focus and started fighting on their own whilst the enemy was living in peace at the gates of Samaria. Change only came the day the king was tired of adapting to the harsh conditions and he demanded an answer from God. He said to himself, we can’t be at war when the enemy is at peace. They fought Benhadad and the famine ended. They are a lot of times in life when we adapt to certain harsh conditions and we change our focus from fighting the real enemy and we complain about the government, the economic situation, and our family backgrounds whilst the real enemy will be at peace. It’s time to do a real introspection and ask ourselves if we are focusing on fighting the real enemy? A time must come when we must refuse to adapt to lack and poverty. God did not create us this way. That’s why he placed Adam in a garden that had everything good pertaining to this life.
The thing that an enemy fears the most is exposure, because an enemy exposed is an enemy defeated. Let’s accept this as a true saying. Poverty is not the will of God. Poverty is an enemy. Take a stand, do not play the blame shift game. Blame is like a wheelchair, it only makes you feel comfortable for a while, but you can never walk from it.