Faith in Uncertain Times

I am not a financial expert, but happened to be watching CNBC the other day and they were discussing the stock markets and an index they called the VIX.  The VIX is a volatility index, as I understand it in layman’s terms, a measurement of how far and wide the swings in stock prices go. The wider the swings the greater the index. Well, according to the people at CNBC we have set all time highs in the VIX. The commentator called it the measure of how afraid investors are in these uncertain times. We have seen the market swing 400-600 points in a matter of a few hours.

Now certainly we are in very uncertain days. Our economy, is it going up, down, are we in recession, are we just having a blip on the radar?  Our election, who is going to be the next president?  Probably depends on who you listened to this morning and which poll you actually believe. Your mortgage, can you pay it,and are the interest rates going up or down. Can you get a loan? How much longer is the war going to continue? Is your company going to lay people off?  There is no clear picture of our future as a nation. Everyone from the candidates to the talking heads on TV to the guy in the next cubicle has an idea, but we have to admit, things are very uncertain.

Aside from our oldest two generations, we have not really seen uncertain times. Our oldest generations lived through World War II, a time of great upheaval and uncertainty. That event literally changed the landscape of the world and set in motion fifty years of cold war and tension. The last real shake-up we had in America came in the late 1960’s when we had a social revolution among the younger generations. Now we have had a few fluctuations since then, but nothing that would be considered life altering, world changing. Now however, we find ourselves in a post 9/11 world, in a worldwide time of financial crisis, political uncertainty and social/moral confusion.  What do we do with uncertain times?

The contrast we make to uncertainty is stability, a known commodity that even if we don’t like the way things are, at least we know what is going on. As I have thought about not only the difficulties I find myself in with a house to pay for that I am not living in, financial uncertainty, two foster kids who may or many not be with us on a permanent basis… I do not know stability right now. But we cannot confuse stability with faith. Faith is not the same as having things go smoothly and knowing where we are going at every turn. Christians who wish to live a life of faith, should not expect God to reveal all of His plans and His ways before we trust in Him. In fact, if we are waiting for stability in order to have faith and feel comfortable with life, then we are not really expressing faith at all. Faith in fact is simply the ability to believe beyond and above what we see.

Whether we realize it or not, everyday, no matter how much you believe you know what it will hold, is a day where we must express faith. Take a quick look at the definition of faith…

Heb 11 1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

So when the markets are crazy, the job is unstable, the bank account has fewer numbers to the left of the dot and our doctor has given us bad news… Faith is certain of what we hope for. So when we believe that we have it all together, things are going well, our 401k is growing and we have lost those extra pounds… Faith does not change. Our faith is not tied to our circumstances. Underline that, remember that and practice that. We live out our faith in our circumstances not a faith driven by our circumstances. If we are going to live a Christian life that is led by a God who is not subject to the change of the winds of the times, then our faith has to be steadily anchored in the One we hope in, not to sights and sounds of the day. Bad news, good news, the world swings and sways under the influence of the evil one, but remember the Bible tells us that the “just shall live by faith” (that is our hope will be in God) “and not by sight” (the whims and waves of things in the world).

For example, hand wringing and worry seem to be seen as a sign of spirituality today. Several (many) Christians are “concerned” about this election. “I don’t know what we are going to do if _________ (whichever candidate you don’t like) gets elected”… why don’t you know?  If your faith is tied to the political swings of today, then your hope is not in a God who is never changing. Worry about the election seems to have taken on epic proportions, yet where is our faith in a God. Romans 13:1 says that no authority exists except that God appoints it.  So if I worry and complain and whine about so and so’ policies and stances, does that make me closer to God, a better Christian, more pleasing to the one who died for me?  No matter who is elected, you should worship just as passionately, pray just as unceasingly, minister to the needy just as compassionately and share Christ with others just as regularly.  Now do not misunderstand me here. I believe in voting, and I will vote in this election, but I will not allow the flood of political discourse and argument over policies affect how much I love and believe that God is the source of my strength and my hope forever. We need to allow the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures to inform our hearts first, not the latest CNN piece.

“I don’t know what I am going to do about my finances, times are really tight.”  The future of your finances… is it in the hands of Wall Street and your mortgage company or does your faith see beyond these things?  Is your faith in the fact that your bank account has plenty of money or is it in the fact that God is your provider?  Look at what God taught Paul about faith in Philippians 4…

11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength. 14 Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 15 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16 for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. 17 Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. 18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Paul learned to be content. You cannot learn contentment and faith if everything is always amply supplied to you and everything is going your way. Rather than hand wringing and worry, if you are a Christian today, you should be in a learning mode. “God teach me to rest in you. Teach my heart to have more faith in you than worry about what I see. God show me your truth and help my heart to dwell upon your faithfulness not in man’s uncertainty.”

It is in uncertain times that what is truly within us rises to the top. Being from Florida, the expression is “you only taste the juice when you squeeze the orange.”  Friends, the VIX is high and we are in a time of squeezing. Now is not the time to shrink into worry and doubt. Take a look at your life and see what is coming out. What are your conversations like?  What are you spending time thinking about?  What have you stopped or started doing recently?  What do these things reveal about your faith?  Let’s live a PlusLIfe, an abundant life. When we are able to rise above the day and live in faith, then we give the world something to look to, something to believe in, that there is something beyond just this world and its’ ways. No more hand wringing- pray and believe that God is God, learn and grow in your understanding of God’s character and love, speak and share the power and faithfulness of our Heavenly Father.

The Church and the Message of Hope

In this season of political campaigning, we are overrun with messages that tell us that one candidate and their policies will be “best for America”, “help the middle class”, “put more money in your pocket” and on and on and on. The basic message is that your future would be in better hands with me.  Political campaigns are about promises, promises are about the future and if we are looking forward to a prosperous and preferred future, it is called hope.

Hope is a fragile and tender thing, simply because it is based on an idea, thought, feeling or belief about something or someone. If we have hope that things will get better, it is tested when we read that the stock market has dropped another 200 points and another bank is about to fail. If we have hope that a relationship will stay together, and we have another fight, our hope is tested. If we have hope that our child will grow up to be a productive, Christian young person, and they are found with drugs or become pregnant, our hope is tested. Hope is indeed fragile, but it is as strong as the source of that hope.

This is why, in this political season, I find it odd that people still place hope in the promises of politicians. Someone might say, “well that’s all there is to hope in, that one of these guys really can help make life better, get us out of the mess we are in”.  Yet, we continue to find ourselves disappointed in some way or another in our government’s consistent failure to deliver us to a better state of life. There is one major reason for that… it is not the government’s job to dole out hope. They are trying to do that with promises that they may or may not be able to fulfill, policies that may or may not work and laws that benefit some, but not all of us. If our hope is placed in a man-made organization, run by man for man, we are appealing to something faulty and sin filled, to bring us the hope we are looking for to change our lives.

Listen to the verses below…

Psalm 146   ³ Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. ⁴ His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish. ⁵ Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the Lord his God…

The command is clear- Do not put your trust in princes nor in any man. Why?  Because he one day will pass from this earth, and all of the plans they had will die with them, replaced by someone else with something else to give to the people– for a while. This passage brings to mind the legacy of Carl Marx, the person who inspired communism. For many years people followed his ideas, and they trusted in them to bring them a better society.  His ideas changed the map of the world, led to the cold war and influenced several generations of people fighting both for and against communism. But in the end, his ideas faded away and now for the most part have fallen into disfavor.

The Psalmist continues with the focus of real hope…

Psalm 146    ⁵ Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the Lord his God, ⁶ Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, ⁷ Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. ⁸ The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord raises those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous. ⁹ The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked He turns upside down. ¹⁰ The Lord shall reign forever— Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!

The passage says that happy is the person who has put his hope in God because God-

• Is the creator of all things, and able to sustain that which He has made. That includes you and everything around you. Not to be too cynical or overly dramatic, but can I ask you, what has our government created?  What have the promises of politicians and business leaders created?
• He keeps truth forever, a truth that does not change or need to change for that matter. While economic policies, foreign policies and social policies seem to change like the wind with events changing seemingly everyday; God’s truth, God’s character, and God’s policies do not change. God is trustworthy to be the same yesterday, today and forever. (Heb 13:8, James 1:17)
• God is able to actually heal that which is broken. If you look in the passage, God heals, feeds, helps, raises, loves and generally fixes that which is not right. Now this would be an empty promise, like we hear so much of these days, if God did not have the power to do all of these things. Hope is fragile if the strength of that hope is placed in something that is not able to carry hope forward. God however has the power to do that which He promises.

Isaiah 46    ⁹ Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, ¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’ ¹¹ Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it;I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it;I will also do it.

• God will reign forever- not a four-year term. God never runs for office, because no one can depose Him. God does not campaign to achieve power, He is all-powerful. God does not make promises for people to like Him, He expects people to love Him. He is God, eternal, ever-loving, ever in control. Hope that is placed in Him will never be crushed. God says that those who put their trust in Him will never be put to shame. He will never back out on a promise and He will not fail you. Can that be said of any man? Can that be said of any organization? Can that be said of any government?

I was talking with a friend a few days ago and we were talking about the role of the church in society and the “voice” that the church has into the world. I have come to believe that for the most part the church still has a voice, but it has become so mixed up, so muddy, that the world is not sure what our message is anymore. Is the church’s message a political/social philosophy in which we have to adhere to certain political positions?  Is the church’s message a “warm fuzzy” to world, a nice story, like a fairy tale to a young child?  Has the church’s message become one that talks much about religion, rituals, rules and romantic ideals?

When Jesus gave His orders to the church, the message that they were to spread was one of repentance from sin, relationship with the Father and the assurance of a future in heaven. The Great Commission was a charge to teach the truth of the gospel, lead people to have faith in Jesus to forgive them and grant them eternal life. Another aspect the Great Commission is that we are to teach them all the things that Jesus had given to them. If we don’t teach people the way of life that Jesus taught in the gospels, we are left with salvation, plus the ways of our world. It becomes a mixed bag of religion and culture… which seems to be what we have today.

The message of hope that the church has to deliver is a message of eternal hope, God’s hope. A message of hope that has not changed and will not change– no matter who is in the White House, in control of the congress, which bank get bailed out, how many homes get foreclosed on or who loses their job. Our message of hope will give people eternal freedom, eternal joy and a present help for times of trouble, a faithful friend who never leaves us behind and a relationship with one who has the power to truly change our life without empty promises.  The voice of the church needs to be heard, but that voice needs to be proclaiming real hope.

God is a God of hope, a hope that does not disappoint (Rom 5:5)… a hope that allows us to look forward to a great future (Col 1:5)… a hope that allows us to deal with our disappointments, pains, sins and faults…

1 Peter 1   ¹⁸ knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. ²⁰ He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you ²¹ who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

So this is my prayer for us as believers, that the church would speak true hope in these times. That the church would trumpet the call to the world that hope can be found, and not in a politicians speech, but in the everlasting God

Romans 15   ¹³ Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

God speaks through our circumstances…yes, even financial crisis

Before you begin reading this article, let me tell you that I am not writing today merely as a commentator on Christian life, but one who is in the throws of this whole financial/credit/mortgage crisis we find ourselves in today. I have a house for sale/rent/rent to own/lease purchase/whatever you would like to do with it/  in Georgia… and have been paying mortgage and rent now for 14 months. Only by the grace of God given through the hand of several church members have we made it thus far.This financial crisis has been a strain on our family. Not only do I have a mortgage and a rental house, but two kids in college and two foster kids at our home, as well as a mother-in-law, and two dogs. If there is anyone in this country who wants this thing to end, it is I.

But more than wanting a solution to this financial crisis, I am increasingly aware that there is an aspect to this time that we do not want to overlook, and that is the spiritual aspect. Things do not happen by accident or by coincidence, God is a purposeful God. I do not pretend to have the definitive answer nor the exclusive rights to the voice of God. But living through this, several thoughts have surfaced…

1) God is trying to lead us to repentance…

Romans 2  ⁴ Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

We have come off of a time of unparalleled prosperity. We have seen the stock market grow, home values soar, easy flowing credit… all to allow us to lead a life of prosperity and relative comfort. But where has it brought us to?  We have more. We have more toys. We have more of the American dream. While we have truly been blessed, have we returned thanks? I remember these verses from Deuteronomy when the people were being told about the land flowing with “milk and honey”…

Deuteronomy 8    ¹⁰ When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. ¹¹ “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, ¹² lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; ¹³ and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; ¹⁴ when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; ¹⁵ who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; ¹⁶ who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— ¹⁷ then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ ¹⁸ “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

We have  been a very blessed nation, but we are also a nation who has forgotten that it is God’s hand that blesses us. A serious question occurs to me at this point, why do we believe that we have been so blessed?  Do we believe that we are owed blessing? (that is our national sense of entitlement) Do we believe it is because we are a “Christian” nation? (which is a fallacy that needs further discussion) Or is it that we have come to the point that the only thing we want from God is His favor and His blessing without the requirement of worship and love toward Him?

God’s goodness should lead us to repentance, not selfishness. I have been humbled by this thought over the last few months. Have I taken my own prosperity for granted?  Have I adequately humbled myself in thanksgiving to the Lord for all the good He has brought my family? Let me remind you that I am firmly entrenched in the most difficult financial time I have ever experienced… but I am reminded that I am still very blessed. My heavenly Father loves me… and the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, but blessed be the name of the Lord! (Job 1:21)

2) God does allow trials into our lives…

We have been blessed, and I believe it has been a very revealing time for our nation, seeing how we have handled blessing. Now it is interesting to see how we are going to handle adversity. If we have come to believe that there should be no adversity in life, then we need to take another look at the life of Jesus. We are into pain avoidance, and that is a natural response. There are very few people who enjoy pain or difficulty. But there is a difference between trying to avoid difficulty, which most people do, and being spiritually prepared to handle the difficulty that will come. Jesus knew that His life was not going to be one of ease and luxury, and He was spiritually ready to handle the difficulty that came. At His most trying moment, Jesus was found in the garden praying to the Father fervently, drawing in ever closer. (Luke 22:41-44)

In America, where the majority of people call themselves Christian, but do not participate in their faith, there is still a great interest in Jesus and spirituality. This was evident after 9/11, people flocked to churches the weeks following 9/11, but as things settled down, they returned to their normal routines. This financial crisis that we find ourselves in will cause some people to begin praying for sure, and maybe even a few showing up to church to find some hope, and plenty calling on the church for benevolent assistance. But are we drawing any closer to God?

The Old Testament is full of stories of God causing national crises in order to get the spiritual attention of the people. In the New Testament Paul suffered a personal physical pain, and God spoke to him and drew him in closer in the midst of his difficulty. James said to count it all joy when we face various trials, knowing that it would draw us in closer to God. In our time of need, when things are not going our way, where is our relationship with God? God is not just a doctor that we run to when we need to be fixed. God is not the mechanic we go to when things break down. God is our Heavenly Father who desires and deserves our love and attention every day.

We may look at these troubling times and wonder why now? Why does it have to be this way?  Why me? But read the Scripture below and see if you can uncover the answer…

Acts 17  ²⁵ … since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. ²⁶ And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, ²⁷ so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

What did you see?  Did you see a God who has called you to this day and this hour, under these conditions… so that you might find Him?

1. He has made every nation of men- it is no accident, God is in control and at work in our world
2. He has determined the times in which they would live- God has chosen these times, whether we determine them to be good times or bad times.
3. He has set the boundaries of their dwellings- God has set the place you are to dwell, the people that you identify with, the nation you are from- no matter whether you agree or don’t agree with the financial policies and politics of that nation.
4. He has done this so that you would seek after Him and find Him- God has made these days, times and places so that men would seek Him out and His promise is that you will find Him. His purpose is to bring you awareness of Him, a desire for Him and a hunger to be close to Him.

So what are you going to do with these days that we find ourselves in crisis?  You can choose to whine… but who will listen?  You can choose to complain… after all misery loves company. You can say it is unfair, not right, shouldn’t happen to you…but it will not change what is happening.

Or maybe, you and I can look to the Lord and listen for Him to speak, listen for Him to call us and draw us in close. He makes the times, the seasons of blessings and the seasons of trial, so that you will look to Him and look for Him. God is ever present, ever willing to work with you, every hoping for your faith, trust and love. But my concern is, if we have not looked to Him in our prosperity, will we look to Him in our day of trial?  If God is trying to capture our attention, He has already tried with great blessing… I wonder what choice we have left Him?