I had another epiphany this week.

Maybe it won’t be a new idea to you—but for me, it hit differently:

What do you want for your children?
What kind of life do you hope they’ll experience?
When you imagine their future, do you see them with a loving family of their own? Thriving in a meaningful career? Living a full and joyful life?

At the very least, wouldn’t you hope they find fulfillment through overcoming challenges and stepping into the potential you know they have?

Now imagine this:
Years down the road, your child comes to visit and says,
“I’ve made you proud, Dad. I’ve lived exactly how I thought you wanted me to—I’m a beggar on the street.”

It sounds absurd, right?

But say you talk for a while and slowly realize…
They truly believed that you’d be most proud if they stayed poor.
They thought moving out of the slums might upset you.
They were afraid you’d disapprove if they ended up with more money than they needed.

That kind of thinking wouldn’t just be heartbreaking—it would be a complete misunderstanding of your love for them.

Of course you’d want them to rise above hardship.
Of course you’d rejoice in their success—especially if it meant they could provide abundantly for their own families and lift others along the way.
As a parent, wouldn't you want them to enjoy true, lasting prosperity?

And if God the Father is the kind of loving parent I believe He is…
Why would we assume He wants anything less for us?

I don’t believe He is pleased by our poverty.
(That’s not to say He’s disappointed in us because of it either.)
But I do believe He looks on us with compassion, always ready to invite us into more—more joy, more peace, more provision.

Our part is to align our will with His… and then learn how to receive.

That’s the hard part for a lot of us:
Receiving doesn’t always come naturally.
If our lives don’t reflect what we deeply desire, maybe the missing piece is learning how to receive what’s already being offered.

It's common to fear prosperity.
Why?
Because we don’t want to offend God or fall into pride or greed. I get that—I really do.

But if your reason for desiring prosperity is to fulfill the purpose you feel God placed in your heart…
Doesn’t that make the desire good?
Doesn’t that make it right?
Doesn’t that make it worthy?

So then the question becomes:

How do we enjoy the blessings we’re given without falling into the traps so often warned about in scripture?
How do we receive enough without crossing some invisible line of “too much”?
And what even is too much?

Here’s a thought:
If you own a computer or a smartphone, you’re already wealthier than the majority of the world’s population.
Should you hang your head in shame because of that?
Just something to think about.

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