Eyes to SeeSample

This week, we’ll come down from looking at the big picture and focusing on our own lives because, honestly, that’s often where our blind spots lurk—thinking about poverty through the lens of broken relationships and recognizing our own poverty changes everything. It isn’t just about homelessness, hunger, or a lack of resources. It’s about our own hearts and lives.

There is no doubt that we are incredibly blessed as Canadians. By some counts, the average household income in Canada for 2022 was $75,452. The website howrichami.org puts the average family in the top 5% richest in the world. But it’s not just about money. We also have comfort, convenience, power, and safety—things that make us extremely privileged, especially on the global stage. As we thank God for the ways He has blessed us, we want to explore how God calls us to devote our lives, along with all He has blessed us with, to Him and His Kingdom.

Reflect:

• Talk about the word “privilege.” What comes to mind when you hear that word? Why is it often hard to see our own privilege?
• In what way or ways can wealth hinder our relationship with God?
• What do you think God was trying to teach the Israelites by raining manna from heaven each day and instructing them to take only enough for each day, as we read in the Exodus story?

Respond:

• We often think of wealth and privilege as only about money. But what other privilege or “wealth” do you hold that you can use to further God’s Kingdom and reflect His love?
• In what areas of your life have you believed the lie of scarcity? What is the “rotting manna” in your life? Is there something you are clutching so tightly that you know you need to let go of and trust God with? What practices or steps can help you do that?

Pray:

• Thank God for how He has blessed us with many things, but most importantly, His love and a relationship with Him.
• Ask God to speak truth into our lives when we are tempted to believe the lie of scarcity and to give us eyes to see the things in our lives that we are clutching too tightly.
• Ask God to give us the courage to live like Jesus in upside-down, backward, sacrificial ways.
• Praise God for the ways He is transforming us as we live out our everyday lives to serve Him.