One day I was watching a show on television about the super rich and I thought to myself, what if God made me super rich. I posed the following question to the person I was with at the time, "If God should make it possible for you to live as the super rich and give you wealth untold, a billion dollars and you could have anything you wanted, go anywhere you wanted, but there was one little hitch . . He would allow you to experience this for one year only and require you to give everything He had given you to the poor throughout the world to effectively make you poor again or put you back in the situation that you were in prior to experiencing this wealth . . would this be something that you could do?"
How would you handle being super rich and then becoming essentially poor again? At this point, the person's response was "Well, what choice would I have?" I responded by saying, "Well, that's not the answer I had hoped to hear, because if God gives us super riches then we might experience the joy and bliss of living without having any boundaries or needs or desires or wants. And if He asked us to give it all back at the end of the year, it would be a test." There are times when God does test us, and if we could not give the money back that we didn't have in the first place, and if we could not appreciate the fact that God had been so good to let us experience what it is like to literally see the world and hopefully enjoy the fineries and pleasures of the world without indulging or overindulging in sinful activity, He would give us the privilege to give that back so we would be challenged further with regard to our soul salvation. The Bible actually says, "Seek not to be rich, for those who are rich fall into temptation and a snare" (1 Timothy 1:6).
The answer I expected to hear would be, Yes, I would definitely give it up to the poor and willingly give up what God has given me. I must admit that it is easier said than done . . to experience this wealth, and then to return to poverty or just a basic standup lifestyle. God often tests us with these things that we might be able to prove ourselves at least worthy of Him blessing us with further greatness. It is so vital to the Christian walk that we get beyond the mode of everything that our hearts desire and because we have not received them, it is more likely our own doing rather than His. The Bible says in James that we have not because we ask not and then when we ask we ask amiss. We ask so that we might splurge and spend on our own personal, selfish desires. We are often not asking for reasons of nobility to help those who are truly poor or indigent individuals. Lets remember that God cannot only make us super rich for a year, He can make us super rich for a lifetime. Much more important than the riches of man or the riches of the earth are riches and treasures He can give us in eternal life in heaven. God gives us and wants us to do what is right, and He will reward us accordingly for our faithfulness. Lets trust Him, and we will always be rich in spirit and in blessings from Jesus our LORD. God bless you!