You may never have wondered how God can take from someone who does not have? Quite apart from the unfairness of why God takes from the poor, the passage makes no sense. You may know it as a part of the parable on the talents. As for me, I did not know how you could take anything from a person who has nothing. What are you taking? He has nothing.
Listen again and see if you see what I used to see as a nonsensical statement. “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance. But from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” This second man does not have. What is it that he now has which shall be taken away from him? Let us say a man is naked. And you say his clothes shall be taken away from him? Which clothes? He is already naked.
But recently, the sense came to me and that is why you should never stop studying your bible. Even if you believe you have read it through several times, stay with it. Greater and greater understanding will come to you as you do that day by day. It is a promise of God. As I was studying it hit me why God takes from the poor.
In Mark’s gospel, the precept relates, not to talents but to lighting a lamp and hiding it under a basket. That was when I saw why Jesus was saying something will be taken from someone who does not have. Because it is not that he does not have but that he does not appreciate the little he has.
They Have And Hide It
These people have a little bit of a gift. They look at yours as you are blogging and preaching, singing and teaching. Then they start to feel bad that God did not give them as many talents as He gave you. Summary? God is not fair.
They forget that He gives gifts according to our abilities to make use of them. That is when they go into a pity party. “Poor me, God does not really love me. Because if He did, He would have given me five talents instead of just one. Oh, woe is me.”
The result of thinking God does not love you can be very grave. It led to the great Fall in the Garden of Eden. The devil somehow persuaded Eve that God was keeping secrets from her. That, if He truly loved her, He would not do that.
Similarly, the minute you think God is unfair for giving you less than the next person, Satan has you. He starts manipulating your perspective until what you have appears even less. And what the other person has seems even better and more glorious.
Naturally, you start to deride what God has given you; you have no appreciation for it. In your heart, which is where God looks, you are poor. It is as if God gave you nothing and that is why God takes from the poor, you. You only observe that the poor are getting poorer but you don’t know that God is doing it.
That is when you completely give up on God and decide to bury your talent. You could put it under a bushel or even underground while you continue to envy others. Meanwhile, you are getting poorer as you sing your favorite song. “Woe is me.”
What Is In Your hand?
This is what God asked Moses as He prepared to use him in the deliverance of an entire nation. Imagine that Moses was like some of us. He would have said “nothing” because all he had in his hand at that time was a wooden rod.
Possibly, he had fashioned it out with his own hands out of a tree branch to help him in shepherding. So, it was not a gift in the real sense of the word. But he appreciated what he had and answered “a rod.” God was happy that he answered thus and started the process of commissioning him. What is in your hand?
Will you say “just this miserly talent?” and hiss? Or will you say “A talent: and leap for joy? Moses chose the latter route and became Israel’s deliverance minister. You have heard it said that attitude determines altitude. It is true that your attitude determines why God takes from the poor and gives to those who are rich.
There are so many examples in the bible, too many for us to list but think of Joseph in Pharoah’s prison. What about the widow of Zarephath with her last meal? She owned up to it and that attitude saved her life through a famine. The wife of the prophet who died is another example.
Please read 2 Kings 4 to see how a single jar of oil stopped her two sons from being sold into slavery. What is in your hand? God will help you to answer correctly today in an appreciative manner. You will then know why God takes from the poor and gives to the one who has the appreciative attitude.
Why God Takes From The Poor And How To Stop Him
Now that you know the process of how the lesser-endowed people among us become even poorer, the solution is easy. Be appreciative of whatever gift He gives you. That last sentence comes to you as a shock because everybody else is better off than you.
What has God done for me lately is what you want to know. That is why God takes from the poor and makes the rich richer. You woke up this morning, did you not? Start from there and appreciate that your very breath is a gift from God. Check it out; without God’s breath, you are dead.
Start appreciating that and watch as God adds to you as He did to the profitable servant in the story. Naturally, increases will come slowly because you have previously proved unappreciative. He cannot trust you to put His gifts to good use, so He goes slowly. Stay with Him.
The most effective way to do that is to stop looking at others. First, the bible says we are fools when we compare ourselves with others. Secondly, it commands us to have eyes only for Jesus, the author, and finisher of our faith. And that is your strategy for overcoming why God takes from the poor. Have eyes only for Jesus and stop any comparison. Am I saying this is easy or that it will happen overnight? Not at all.
But it is the only way in the bible that you can stop becoming poorer. It is the only way you can start appreciating what you have. Look away from others and lock your eyes firmly onto Jesus.
