I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! Psalms 27:13-14
This scripture about sums up the news and financial markets around the world in the past week. Seasoned fund traders were jumping out of windows, good thing most were on the ground floor at the time.
In case you were laying on a beach somewhere, let’s sum it up.
) The Locust which have decimated South Africa are now moving into the food supplies in China
2) Financial markets dropped 11.5% last week, some reports say 12%, however we like to go on the conservative side so as not to incite panic. Right?
3) Crazy weather patterns, but this has almost become a norm.
4) Christian persecutions are on the rise worldwide as the powers that be turn a blind eye.
I could go on, but it’s the end-times, and to be expected, Jesus told us it was coming. So, the real question is, what do we as believers do. How do we navigate all this without losing faith?
In fall of 2010 we sat at the end of the driveway to our $1.5m home in Traverse City, Michigan that we just did a short sale on for $1. Long story, but that was the sale price on the transfer deed, $1.
The jeep was loaded with 3 huge chows, our babies, a few personal items, and was hooked to a trailer with the last of the possessions we were determined to hang on to. There was no destination logged into the GPS, we didn’t have one. For the first time in our lives, after giving thousands into homeless shelters, we were the ones homeless.
I remember clearly the October of 2009 crash in the markets. In early spring of that year, Chuck Pierce had sent out a warning email in which he said, “prepare for adverse circumstances in the coming months.” Having always believed the prophets, we took his words to heart, praying and analyzing what their meaning could be. At the same time, we began receiving emails from groups we invested with that something was off in the financial markets, which added to the concerns over that year.
Personally, we were heavily leveraged in properties and the markets at that time, in fact, you could say we were all in. As we prayed the Lord began telling us to scuttle our ship, liquidate if you would. One day while out in the boat fishing, Kelly hooked a big one. We fought that fish for the better part of an hour as it pulled our boat back and forth across the lake. Finally, it surfaced, and what he had caught was not a fish, but rather a cable, a telephone cable.
Apparently when the first houses were built on our side of the lake, the one we lived in was owned by a doctor who required emergency communication with his patients. Running the cable around the lake via land was extremely expensive so he had it run through the bottom of the lake from one side of it right to our doorstep.
When Kelly pulled up that cable instantly the Lord said, “I know how to get a message to you, are you listening?” Whoa – serious whoa.
We had been praying and seeking His guidance, but not applying what He was instructing into our lives and it cost us dearly. In life we have found two basic paths the Lord has led us down. The first is, STAND – and you shall see salvation, and the other, the prudent see danger coming and take refuge from it, the simple keep going and suffer great damage from not listening. Prov. 27:12
As this era spirals to an end, we as believers must pray, and then listen, to what the Lord is instructing. Is it a time to battle the forces of evil or to pray we are sheltered from the things coming on the earth? Only wisdom discerns between the two.
Lord, we are in awe of your magnificence and glory manifested to us through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Our hearts and lives are lifted toward you as you guide us, our neighbors, cities, and nation in a path of righteousness. We pray that your wisdom would lead us in those paths chosen and prepared by you, and that your mighty power would shield us from the works of darkness.
Signal the battle cry to fight when you would have us engage and teach us to shelter in place when necessary. We look to you, rely on you, and whole heartily worship you. Remove, by your great power and by the blood of Jesus sickness and disease from our boarders. Reveal the hiding place of the enemy and give us strategy to dethrone him. Amen
If this post speaks to you let us know. Something to add? Post a comment, we would love to hear from you.
