My Devotion

Rich Man’s Pain and Poor Man’s Anguish

By Liz Omondi | Email: timestodayke@gmail.com | Image courtesy: pulse live and islamicrelief.org

If the rich man is in pain, then the poor man must be in anguish. These are the thoughts that came to my mind from recent observations on the state of the economy of our country. If the rich man is complaining about high food prices, then what can the poor man say about their daily struggle to put a single meal on the table? If the rich man can agonise about having to queue at the service station for some minutes, or hours to get a precious commodity called fuel, what about the poor man staring at death for lack of rain water for months on end?

Yet God created both the rich and the poor. God loves them both dearly and equally. The Sovereign God sees, knows and feels the pain and anguish of both the rich man and the poor man. He hears them when they cry out to Him. The Psalmist says in Psalm 34 “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.”

Both the rich man who is in pain and the poor man who is in anguish can look to God Almighty who created them both to deliver them from all their troubles. We read the story of the rich young man according to Mark 10:17-27 who approached Jesus saying,

“Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” 21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Notice verse 21 we are told that Jesus looked at him and loved him. While the challenge Jesus gave the rich man made him go away sad because he had great wealth, Jesus answering the question His disciples asked, ‘Who then can be saved?’ He said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Jesus Christ came and died for all mankind. 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.”

Even today, God can see all the pain and suffering in our world. Whether it is in Kenya or Ukraine, in Marsabit, or Nairobi, the rich man, or the poor man, the politician, or the voter. God has compassion on all mankind and would not want any of them to perish.

He sees and knows both the rich man’s pain and the poor man’s anguish. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin.” So both can call out to God. Only He has the solution to all our problems. Only He can deliver us from our troubles.

God says in John 10:9-10

“ I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.”

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”