It is good to be reminded that God sees everything from a different perspective. Whereas we are limited by our vantage, our location, our height, our vision, etc., God has no such limitations. He cannot only see everything in the physical world; He can see the spiritual realm as well.

We are all prone to limit our interpretation of things to that which we see; if its cloudy we’re blue, if its sunny we’re happy. We often fail to consider that we need the cloudy days, for without them we will get no rain. By the same token, we need the clouds to part to allow for the sun to warm the earth, and provide light.

One area that we tend to have tunnel-vision, is with people’s financial status. We find ourselves quick to judge that if a man is wealthy, he must be contented and happy. If a man is poor, and barely getting by then he must be miserable and depressed. If we allow ourselves the benefit of a little consideration on the matter, we will realize that those are not proven concepts. If they were, all rich people would be happy, and all poor people sad.

I know some very miserable rich people, and some very happy poor people. There must be more to the equation than just economics. The New Testament addresses this in…

James 1:9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

How could James say that the poor man is exalted? Who would ever look up favorably to a poor person?

Adversely, in what way is the rich man made low? He looks pretty high up to us. What with his fancy clothes, fine cars, and expansive house life has apparently been pretty good to him. In what way is this man of great wealth made low?

If you travel the same flower-lined road every day you perhaps hardly even notice that one day the flowers are there, spreading their beauty for all to see; and the next they are just not there. They have faded and died as their season to reveal their beauty quickly comes to an end.

The rich man must learn that his riches are temporal; God can give them, and God can take them away. The man must keep his eyes constantly on the Lord, not his riches. It’s not until most are ‘made low,’ do they begin to take notice of God. Before then, God is really not necessary.

The poor person, though he must struggle through life, is forced to depend upon God for his every meal. He grows rich in his relationship with God out of necessity. He is ‘exalted’ in that he comes to know God in a way the rich seldom do.

It would do us all well to learn the lesson here; God must remain the center of our attention and affection, not our financial status.