Wealth shouldn't turn our eyes from God

Last week I was reading a Pew Research Poll. The poll was conducted in 39 countries and the results found that many people around the world think it is necessary to believe in God to be a moral person.

It is interesting to see that the idea that one must believe in God to keep morality in place was a view more common in poorer countries than in wealthier countries.

At first glance, one might wonder why poor countries would take this stance. Why would those people on the whole believe it necessary to believe in God as a necessity for morality?

Think about it: Poor countries are at the poverty level and poorer countries have little to make life easier.

Yet, when one is poor and has little and everything is stripped away, maybe it is easier to understand that earthy things are not the objects of their trust because their earthly possessions and wealth are few.

Maybe they have less confidence in their own abilities. Maybe God is the only thing they have to hold on to. It is like the writer in proverbs wrote: “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life that one may turn away from the snares of death.” (Proverbs 14:27)

On the other hand, we can see where people in wealthy countries might think differently. When one is well on their way to the “American Dream,” it does seem that it would be easier to put God in the background of life.

Suppose a person has reached the pinnacle of her company and there are no obstacles in getting what she wants. Is it harder for her to trust God and more difficult to see God as the author of all blessings?

It is more convenient to develop in one’s own mind what is moral and what is just? After all, with status is power, the focus can transfer to self rather than reliance upon God.

That is not to say that people in wealthy countries are not spiritual and don’t recognize that God is the giver of all blessings. But across the whole scope of society and around the world, with great success and an excess of personal power from money or status, would there be a tendency for a person to put less focus on God?

Would it be easier to make up one’s own moral code and decide what behaviors are moral and acceptable?

It is sad to say that some people think all they have achieved is by their own hand and God had nothing to do with it. Further, they do not consider the precepts of God as the source of their own personal moral compasses.

Yet, consider four observations.

One, God is the author of life. He decides when each person’s time upon earth is over. “You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.” (Job 14:5)

Two, God is the great giver of all blessings in life. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

Three, a special instruction is given to those with status and wealth. Paul said: “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” (Romans 14:12)

Four, everyone, regardless of status or success in life, will meet God. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)

Is this a message of a depressing nature? On the contrary. Trusting in the Lord is the basis for everything we have or hope to have.

If we have trusted in him, our times are in his hands and our future is secure.

Judy Brandon writes about faith for the Clovis News Journal. Contact her at:

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