Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Prosperity (05/11/06)
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TITLE: Living a Life of Prosperity | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jen Davis
05/18/06 -
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A caller on the program countered in response, “Well maybe some people are, but there’s sure a lot of people I know who are barely making it.”
Faith knew she was living a life of prosperity—she had everything she had ever wanted and more. She and her husband both had very successful careers making more money than they would have ever imagined. They lived in a beautiful home in an exclusive neighborhood and drove cars that cost more than some people paid for their homes. Faith had a beautiful daughter who would never do without. There was nothing she could think of that she couldn’t buy if she so desired.
So why was she feeling so empty inside? Dear Lord, she prayed, I have everything I have ever wanted. Why do I still feel as if there is something missing? She had prayed this same prayer many times lately.
When traffic momentarily came to a standstill, she rolled down the windows to get some fresh air. The cool breeze against her skin invigorated her and she almost welcomed the brief respite the delay offered. While stopped underneath an overpass, a slight movement out of the corner of her eye caught Faith’s attention. She turned to look and was startled. Dear God, a child. At the very top of the steep embankment, underneath the overpass, a child sat on a ledge, a woman sitting next to her. Both were dressed in layers of used clothing, bags filled with their belongings propped up like furniture around them.
As if accompanied by a song, the child began swinging her feet back and forth in a rhythmic fashion. An image of Faith’s own little girl, swinging her feet in a similar motion, made her heart ache. A moment later, a man carrying a grocery bag appeared at the top of the overpass and slipped underneath to join the woman and child. How did they end up in this place? Faith could not imagine.
The person in the car behind Faith tapped on the horn to warn her that traffic was moving again. As Faith began to drive away she thought about the source of her discontent. While she had accomplished much in her life, she had begun to spend most of her time, in one way or another, simply creating more of what she already had. She was called to join God in his work, but she had left him at church every Sunday. Having been blessed with so many resources, Faith knew that there was so much more that she could do.
On the radio program the host continued to talk about ways to increase wealth, but Faith knew that was not real prosperity. She wished she could tell them that prosperity is not just about having all that anyone could ever want. Real prosperity is being so full inside with what one has that it overflows onto others.
Faith turned off the radio and moved into the right lane. “I have to do something,” she said aloud, barely recognizing her own voice. Taking the next exit, she turned off the freeway. Although not fully understanding where God would lead her, she knew that she was now heading in the direction that would begin to fill the emptiness she had long felt.
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