Cursed or Blessed
Pastor Jerry Wilhite,
author Are you blessed or cursed? A lot of people would not count themselves as blessed because of the problems they have in their lives. The truth is that most Europeans and US citizens are blessed especially in comparison to people in 3rd world countries such as Ethiopia, Africa, India, and China. Many think they are not blessed if they:
The truth is we are blessed beyond our imaginations, even those who have all of the problems listed above.
Below are some numbers and data on true hunger, not the kind from missing a meal every so often, but from missing meals daily or not eating at all for days at a time.
We have the means. The financial costs to end hunger are relatively slight. The United Nations Development Program estimates that the basic health and nutrition needs of the entire world's poorest people could be met for an additional $13 billion a year. Animal lovers in the United States and Europe spend more than that on pet food each year. What makes the difference between millions of hungry people and a world where all are fed?
Source: http://www.bread.org/
Even if we came up with the billions mentioned above it would only get rid of hunger this year, not the next, nor the one after that. In order to rid the world of hunger, poverty has to be eliminated first. This is mainly because hunger is a result of poverty and most countries that have a large portion of their population in poverty are this way due to a lack of something. Some lack rain or resources, but some lack compassion (wars brought on by tribes, clans, etc destroying the resources).
Below is data on poverty:
According to the UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI), 33 of the world’s 50 poorest countries are in sub-Saharan Africa. Plagued by malnutrition, poverty, illiteracy and appalling sanitary conditions, the African continent is hardest hit by the growth of inequality throughout the world. Although the countries of Africa made considerable progress in economic and social development from the 1960s to the 1980s, that progress has slowed down, especially because of the catastrophic effects of the structural adjustment plans pursued by international financial institutions.
Sources : World Resources Institute (WRI), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The idea is that most of us are so blessed and do not even realize it. It reminds me of a story I read a long time ago.
A man was depressed because he had no shoes until he met a man with no feet.
There are always those in worse shape than you are. I realize it is hard to be sad for others when the whole world seems to be crashing down around you, but if we can not be a blessing to others how can we expect to be blessed.
First we must be blessed. Even though a lot of us are blessed abundantly, we do not see, count, or share the blessings.
Do you realize that in the past hour over 268 people have died in the US alone and in 3rd world countries such as Ethiopia 1433 people have died?
People are dying every second in the world from hunger due to poverty. Their children are dying due to hunger before they reach their first birthday. How horrible that must be to sit ideally by and watch a baby die from hunger and be able to do nothing about it.
So why all this depressing data? To help you see the blessings you have.
Here are some blessings to count:
Of course the above list is only a partial list, and not in any order. I am sure each of you can think of many, many more.
Below are some of the natural blessings we may forget.
How about the more extreme blessings? Do you own a television, DVD player, VCR, stereo, car, etc? These are blessings as well as the electricity to use them. You really should count indoor plumbing, too.
The best blessing of all is that we are alive, and that we are saved and can know God personally.
If you can get up you are blessed over the person who can not. If you can walk you are blessed over the person who can not. If you can enjoy a good meal you are blessed over those who are eating out of the trashcans or do not even have that luxury. Can you work? Then you are blessed over those who can not. Can you enjoy time with your loved ones and friends then? You are blessed over those who do not have any friends or can not spend time with them.
Right now in this world people are being deprived of their preferred way of life, families freedom to worship. In some countries if you open a Bible you could be killed for it, and in others people are told what work they can do. If they wanted to spend the evening with their family they might get thrown in prison just for saying something as innocent as, "I wish we had a different leader."
Before you go to bed tonight in your comfortable bed in your well heated or cooled home after eating a nice meal and spending time with your loved ones, think about those living in the mud, streets, eating (when possible) out of the trash, and freezing in the cold or suffering in the heat. While the bugs and insects feed on them while they sleep. I am not trying to make you sick or depress you. I just want you to realize how blessed we truly are especially in the US or Europe.
Yes, Jesus said we would have the poor always, but He did not say we should ignore them or pretend they do not exist.
Poverty in over half the world is not the same as poverty in the US or Europe. Those in the 3rd world nations and so on would be blessed to reach the poverty levels of the US and Europe.
Matthew 26
11. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
Strong's Ref. # 4434
Romanized ptochos
Pronounced pto-khos'
from ptosso {to crouch; akin to GSN4422 and the alternate of GSN4098); a beggar (as cringing), i.e. pauper (strictly denoting absolute or public mendicancy, although also used in a qualified or relative sense; whereas GSN3993 properly means only straitened circumstances in private), literally (often as noun) or figuratively (distressed):
KJV--beggar(-ly), poor.
adj. poor·er, poor·est
[Middle English poure, from Old French povre, from Latin pauper. See pau-1 in Indo-European Roots.]poorness n. Synonyms:poor, indigent, needy, impecunious, penniless, impoverished, poverty-stricken, destitute These adjectives mean lacking the money or the means for an adequate or comfortable life. Poor is the most general: "Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness" (Samuel Johnson). Indigent and needy refer to one in need or want: indigent people living on the street; distributed food to needy families. Impecunious and penniless mean having little or no money: "Certainly an impecunious Subaltern was not a catch" (Rudyard Kipling). He made poor investments which left him penniless. One who is impoverished has been reduced to poverty: an impoverished, third-world country. Poverty-stricken means suffering from poverty and miserably poor: refugees living in poverty-stricken camps. Destitute means lacking any means of subsistence: tenants left destitute by the fire. Usage Note:In informal speech poor is sometimes used as an adverb, as in They never played poorer. In formal usage more poorly would be required in this example. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition |