From a position of strength

It may seem odd but the logic works.  It may not always be in our best interest to be healthy and/or wealthy.  My thought process goes like this.  First, when we are comfortable, we tend to become distracted and temporally focused.  We all have things that we like and like to do.  When everything is going our way, it seems that we tend to default to enjoying ourselves.  If we have extra money, we often think to buy something that we have been wanting.  If we have extra time, we often blow it on some form of entertainment.  If we are sleeping well, have abundant strength and health, we often focus on the things that make us even more so.
But when you look back over this list, we can see that love of God and love for neighbor aren't in the mix. 
On the other hand, when we are sick, we are forced to consider just how frail and weak we actually are.  We are forced to consider eternity and our position before God.
When we are poor, we are forced to trust in the mercy of God.  We are forced to depend upon his hand for our daily bread and not our own debit card.
When we are young, strong and seemingly invincible, we forget just how short life actually is.  When we are old, tired and spent, we can look back over our lives and pray that God will have mercy on our foolishness, short sightedness and self centeredness.
My point is not to endorse poverty and sickness, but to simply remind us that true reality is a life lived to the glory of God, not a life of distraction in a vain and empty world.