The Prosperity Gospel

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I was vegging out in front of the TV on Friday night, when Larry King interviewed Creflo Dollar. Creflo Dollar is one of a new breed of televangelists who preach that God wants you to be wealthy and prosperous.

But is it true? Does God really want you to be wealthy and prosperous?

I think God is more concerned with the growth of our faith than the status of our bank accounts. I also think that God sometimes (lots of times) uses trials, such as financial difficulties and health problems, to draw us closer to Him and to build upon our faith and trust in Him.

When my husband and I first got married, we decided to try to have children right away. For the first 6 months I wasn’t too concerned when I didn’t get pregnant. 6 more months went by, and I was beginning to get concerned. I went to go see a doctor, who prescribed a low-level fertility drug. Surely I’d get pregnant right away, I thought. I was wrong.

The next 6 months were very hard on me, physically and emotionally. The fertility drug had some pretty awful side effects, and I just didn’t feel good. I had twice a month doctor’s visits. And I cried. Buckets.

I was also angry with God. My faith wasn’t as strong then as it is now. I couldn’t understand what I did to God that he would punish me by withholding children from me. I swung wildly between getting angry with God and being ashamed that I was angry with God.

Had it not been for the wisdom of my husband, who insisted I talk to one of our pastors about this, I may have walked away from my faith in God. Scary stuff. Fortunately, after several long talks with the pastor, I was back on the right track. Not that the infertility was any easier, but at least I understood that God could deal with my anger and work through it, as long as I was still talking to Him.

Looking back 12 years and two children later, I’m still easily brought to tears, thinking about what a difficult time that was. I can’t listen to Wes King’s We Thought You’d Be Here without bawling my head off.

On the other hand, when I look back at those desperate years, I can see God guiding me along and growing my faith. After our daughter was born, we started trying for a second child. We tried for two years before I got pregnant and miscarried. It was another year before I got pregnant with my son. We always thought we’d have a third child, but it seems that’s not in the plans for us. And that’s OK.

The thing is, through each month of not getting pregnant, through my miscarriage, I was continually faced with this question:

Do I still trust God, even if my life doesn’t turn out the way that I think it should? Even if I never have another child, do I still trust Him? Or is my faith dependent upon what He gives me?

In the end, after all of the trials, after we ended up with two children instead of three, I can honestly say that I do trust Him. But it took years of suffering for me to get to that point.

Over the last year, we’ve been faced with financial trials. Again, it’s not been easy, but again, I’ve seen my faith grow by leaps and bounds.

My point is this. If it is true that God wants us to be wealthy and prosperous, what does that say about the Christians who are not wealthy? Who are not healthy? Are they doing something wrong? That’s where my problem lies. I don’t believe they are. I don’t believe that I was doing anything more wrong than any other Christian when I couldn’t get pregnant.

I’m a sinner. Always have been and always will be. And so is everyone else. But God knew that in MY life, the best way to get through to me was to send me through a bad trial. And it worked, because God knows best.

I’m thankful that God was and is more interested in my faith than my comfort. I never want to get so comfortable that I stop growing. I never want to get so comfortable that I forget I need God.

I do believe that God does bless people with health and financial wealth. But I also believe that He chooses not to bless others in that way. And God in His sovereignty knows what is best for each individual.

Playing the “name it and claim it” game can lead to bad consequences. If God doesn’t bless you with what you ask for, it can leave you wondering what you’ve done wrong. And perhaps you’ve done nothing wrong. Perhaps God just wants to bless you in a different area, and He’s using the trial in your life to do so.

To quote the apostle Paul,

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)

May we all see Christ’s power and grace today.

Photo by dezinerfolio.

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