We were home at a friend’s house yesterday and had our weekly prayer meeting. With two little boys in the house, there’s bound to be a lot of toys: Action figures that move around and make little noises, among many others. We talked about this for a bit, and mentioned the utter disparity between our rich Western society and poor children in developing countries who grow up with perhaps no toys at all.

Unfortunately, that feeling is entirely too familiar for me. Financially I’m doing fine, and comparing to third world standards I’m practically booming. But there are areas of my life where I feel less privileged… Relationwise, I feel poor. It’s hard to go through life with no one by your side. No one to hold, no one to love and cherish. I always have the love of my Father God with me, but I know how Adam felt without Eve. Alone.

Sometimes, at night, I lie in my bed and I sort of hug my pillow and imagine myself to be hugging some loved one, and for a few seconds I feel what it might one day be like to have someone lying there beside me. And in those moments, I feel exactly like that little child, growing up in the suburb slums, falling asleep in a little rickety tin shed, and dreaming of how wonderful it must be to be a rich kid in the skyscrapers downtown. To have toys… toys that go “beep, beep” and move around, and to have a TV set to watch all day long.

And yet, somehow, I don’t suffer badly from it. Rather, I rejoice in God, because I know this will bring good things. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the earth.” I rejoice in God over my poverty, knowing the He paid the full price for everything I need; knowing that all is well and fully in the hands of my Lord, and that this little temporary suffering works out a far greater glory in heaven.

In a way, while not lacking in possessions, I take great delight in this poverty of mine. It is an honor to be counted among those who suffer, while praying and believing that better things will come. Holding on to the promises of Him who died for us, in face of adversity, may very well turn out to be the greatest glory of all.