Imagine a world where there is no poverty. … This is exactly what God had in mind from the very beginning.

Imagine a world where there is no corruption, only justice; no violence or conflict, only social peace; no wickedness, only goodness; no mediocrity, only excellence; no hideousness, only beauty; no greed, only generosity; no slavery or human trafficking, only freedom; no sickness, only health; no death, only life.

God intended that humans flourish. Human poverty had no place in God’s original design. In God’s view (another way to say “in reality”) all of life was to flourish. God wanted the human to develop in every dimension. Hebrew writers had a word for this: shalom, defined as completeness, soundness, welfare, peace.

The God who created a flourishing universe made humans His agents in that flourishing process. If you are flourishing, you are bringing shalom to others because you are being what God intends you to be.

Darrow’s new book, Wisdom: The Way to Human Flourishing, explores these themes. It will be available at Amazon and YWAM Publishing on Feb 15.

Print this page