It seems we must know a kind of poverty, in our spirit, in order to know God. This may be true because it is one of the key ways we learn that we really are in need of him. We often don't know this until we have experienced the dearth of our own ability to provide what we want for ourselves, without God.
It is an unavoidable path, not because of God, but because of us. But the secret of it is that it reveals to us our deeper desires. We discover our true hope once we have exhausted all the other things we discover we are still hoping in.
We should, therefore, deeply respect periods of this kind of poverty within us, and within others. It is not only of no good, but also unhelpful, to rush out of our experience of poverty. Nor is it good to to hurry this process along in others. We must be willing to wait, to yearn.
I am watching this process in a couple of people these days...it is difficult, but I am reminded about what it is that I am actually watching. Like leaves turning color, I am seeing a slow changing, beautiful to behold. Poverty is delivering them...and me!
