by Judy Wright  

“I've been poor and I've been rich, and rich is better." – Bessie Smith (American Blues Singer)

Well, Bessie, I've been poor, and I've been tentatively middle class, and then I've been real poor, and I think I agree with you. Rich is better! But just as every silver lining has a cloud, even poverty has its perks. I've discovered a few of them along the way.

Perk No. 1:  April 15          

If you think of April 15 as a time to pay big money to the government, then this article is not for you. But if you look on April 15 as the greatest financial windfall of the year, and plan for months ahead what you'll do with your tax refund, then you already know one of the blessings of poverty!

Perk No. 2:  Friends          

When you are poor, you don't have to wonder if your friends really like you, or are only after your money. Your friends really like you!          

One time my husband Rod and I moved to a new town. We were in our usual low-budget state, but our son had gotten married a few weeks before, and we had splurged on a new suit for Rod and a new dress for me. The Lord had blessed our shopping, and we had found the clothes on a clearance rack, so they looked more pricey than they actually were.          

We never thought about our clothes. We just put them on and went to church. During the church service, the pastor made a special appeal for funds for an upcoming evangelistic outreach. Rod and I have been enthusiastic about evangelism, so we decided to donate $50 (a vast sum, on our budget) to the collection on our first visit to the new church.          

The combination of the new clothes and the $50 donation caused the pastor and treasurer and who-knows-who-else to falsely label us well-to-do. We were surprised at the dinner invitations, offers of church offices, and other "courting" that came our way. Usually people are friendly, but not that friendly!          

Then we began to be besieged with people offering to sell us houses and lands!          

"Are you going to build your own place, or are you looking to buy?"             

"We're looking to rent … an apartment."          

Before long, the unusual attention abruptly stopped. A lower-income family who rents an apartment, has one set of new clothes, and gives sacrificially to evangelism is not nearly as exciting as a rich family! The advantage in such a situation: You know your friends are really your friends.

Perk No. 3: Poverty’s currency           

Even if you are poor in money, you can be rich in other things. Of course, if you're rich in money, you can also be rich in other things. But poverty can make you rich in faith, rich in courage, rich in good humor. If you are too poor to buy a car, you will get more exercise. If you are so poor that you can afford only the most simple foods, you will have lower cholesterol. And if your poverty has come as a result of unemployment, you are rich in the one thing that many rich people most covet: spare time!

Perk No. 4: Excitement!          

When you can't go out and buy all the things you want or need, you are forced to develop your imaginative genius.          

Let's say that you are making a road trip, and you have a flat tire.  If you're a rich person, this is a no-brainer. You whip out your cell phone, call for a tow truck, and wait patiently beside the road until you are rescued.          

But let's say you're poor; you just put your last five dollars into the gas tank in order to get where you're going. Your tires are so worn they can't be repaired anyway. You have no cell phone, no money for road service, and no money to have the tire replaced. You are in for an exciting afternoon!          

There are few trials in life that are not made much simpler by having a pile of money waiting in the wings. There are few trials that are not made more exciting by having no money at all.  

Perk No. 5: Chances of being kidnapped reduced          

"A man's riches may ransom his life, but a poor man hears no threat." (Proverbs 13:8 NIV)          

Did you ever envy millionaires who live in mansions? They spend money for security systems and surveillance cameras and guards. Then they have to wonder if the guards they hired are really trustworthy. In contrast, I once found a sign which read, "Premises protected by abject poverty."

Perk No. 6: Easier to get to heaven          

I didn’t just make this up. Jesus said it's harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Most rich people do have a harder time learning to trust in God. When you have the resources to deliver yourself from trouble, you will deliver yourself. When you come to the end of your own resources, you begin to learn how to trust God to deliver you.          

A Polish proverb says, "The rich man gets his ice in the summer, but the poor man gets his in the winter." No matter how much poverty you have endured here on earth, you have the promise of untold riches in heaven. Poverty is always temporary!          

Would you rather be rich than poor? Perhaps. We can all understand Bessie Smith’s point of view. But when Jesus made His choice of how to live when He came to this earth, He chose poverty instead of riches. All things considered, if you were really given the choice, and could clearly view all the implications, you just might choose the same.  

Judy Wright is a freelance writer who recently moved from the Fingerlakes area of New York state to Gainesville, Florida.