“Not that I speak in regard to need,
for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:”
Philippians 4:11 

In a Soviet prison camp, Solzhenitsyn discovered that “the meaning of earthly existence lies not, as we have grown used to thinking, in prospering, but…in development of the soul.” Maybe this is why he spends much of his time writing in a small cabin furnished only with the barest necessities.

Just because people are better off, doesn’t mean they are better. Our possessions (or lack of them) do not make us who we are. God is interested in developing our character, not our bank account!