Dear…
'The Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth.'
Psalm 47:2
The media loves a good story, especially if it is spiced up with controversy. There was none of the usual 3S in yesterday's financial market carnage, but the 4th S, "suffering" was real and yesteday's Straits Times had the headline "Hell in Asia.' I think the writer could have either fond memories of the Asian crisis a decade back, or someone could have resurrected the headline title from the same decade back, for the headline was a bit of a misnomer, for it was more like "Hell on Earth, rather than just Asia."
Leaving the realm of hell for now, a more interesting thought would be in the midst of the helter skelter emotions yesterday or even the past few months of slow but gradually intensifying death, did anyone give any thought about Heaven and God?
'Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.'
Proverbs 18:12
Destruction is already with many, at least on the financial front and it has now broadened to the economic front and with it, implications for the social fabric of society as stress levels intensifies with the end of the good times. But are 'bad times' all that bad? It is, if the temporal is what one holds dear, it isn't if eternity is what one understands and wants to work for. For the quality of our soul tends to improve for many, with the deterioration in our material well-being.
'And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes….'
Deuteronomy 6:5-9
The "Grapes of Wrath" was a poignant story depicting the dustbowl that was the once rich lands of middle America. A prolonged period of drought that almost turned the land of plenty to a desert. America recovered and prospered to take its place as the dominant superpower of the twentieth century, and the rest is history. In fact, history is often consigned to the dusty bookshelves and not many of the present generation of Americans might remember or even know the struggles nor faith of their forefathers, as they plogged along resolutely to bring forth this great country.
What about the rest of us? Be it an immigrant society or even a well established family lineage, rare would be the present generation who remembered the toil and sacrifices of their forefathers, and much less would many care, for the fruits of the present are too distractive.
'And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers……
And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not……..Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage..'
Deuteronomy 6:10-14
Some of us who have gone through the Asian crisis and have not been scarred for life, would have been pretty troubled by in the past few years by the almost careless to reckless devil may care attititude of the 'can do' approach towards a very serious matter, money, for what is more important than life, but money, at least is the case for many.
What the markets have again shown to those who believe that great brains, social connectivity, eloquence and spiffy dressing will bring one to the stratosphere of society will also be brought crashing down when the music stops. Markets in its bad moods, do not differentiate by social status, intellect and any other human understanding, but purely by your commitment to live by the principles of God's Word ie contentment and stewardship and His grace upon the faithful.
Of course, just as there are certain consistent behavioural patterns in all market cycles, there will be some distinct differentiation and what will probably stand out in this market panic( whose finale might just be a curtain call away), is the lower than low basement rats type character of many of the main actors in this parody of corporate governance and collective greed.
The house of cards have collapsed but the fat cats or more like rats, as what some decent hardworking mainstream Americans called them are still not just getting to keep a large part of their largese, but have the audacity to have a good time at taxpayers' expense. There is very little repentance from the heart.
God is Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.'
John 4:24
Fear is the absence of certainty. Fear is that imaginary monster that will take on a life of its own, fueled by the fertile and sinful imagination of the finite man. Fear is what is driving the panic in the financial markets.
Selfishness is the co-driver that works in tandem with fear to bring about the paralysis that the world's economy is now facing. Pride is the sunshade that keeps many in self-denial from doing the obvious right courses of action to put a brake on this runaway train of frenzied panic that is heading towards the cliff of oblivion.
'So then I run, not as if I were uncertain. And so I fight, not as one who beats the air.'
1 Corinthians 10:26
"Certainty" does not mean that the fallout from years of unfettered greed and irresponsibility will disappear at the blink of an eyelid, for rare would be a recalcitrant soul that will truly repent, without the need to go through the pain of punishment. But truth will at least bring to an end, the mistrust that is feeding the momentum of fear that till now, is morphing into an increasingly uncontrollable goo.
Once the climate is trust is established, which probably meant a need for all guilty parties to come clean on the exact extent of their flings, for to continue to hide behind the complexity of their own machinations as a reason for not knowing the total exposure to questioanble loans is increasingly a non-excuse.
Boldness of heart to do the right and honorable thing would be required to assuage the now certain fear and may we pray that within the leadership would emerge men of great courage and character, just like men of years past who were prepared to knock some sense back into their fellow men and led by example by showing the willingness to take responsibility and be honest about one's past failings. This will allow solutions to be implemented. It is quite telling at this juncture that the greatest country in the world today have so far managed to squeeze out only the Sage of Omaha, Mr Warren Buffett as a credible knight to come save the many damsels in distrees. Whatever has happened to those Ivy Leaguers from the boom post war boom years?
'I sought the Lord and He heard me. And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant.'
Psalms 34:4-5
But
Character in our increasingly mercenary world might not bring one to the nadir of society, but lack of it have brought all of us to below sub-zero conditions. Can one build good character without resting upon the foundations of our Lord Jesus Christ?
'And as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.'
Revelations 3:19
The world has once again learn that for all their brilliance and idealism, the imperfect men have always fallen short. The difference is that the ramifications of our continued failure based on our finite understanding have become more global and intense as we are witnessing these past few days.
The fear of the Lord our God is the beginning of wisdom. As we come to know God, we will begin to feel truly humbled and in awe, for His omnipresence is beyond our understanding, yet His grace and love for us must elicit that desire to never displease Him, for what words can describe the almost irrelevance of our gratitude, and to go lower than that in sinful disobedience is enough cause for fear.
'And they who use this world are as not abusing it, for the fashion of this world is passing away. But I desire you to be without anxiety…'
1 Corinthians 7:31-32
I believe we are very close to going over the brink but God will restore us and bring us back, if we allow Him.For God even in His wrath loves us all and in allowing us to be a victim of our own sinfulness, God hopes that we will realize our own sinfulness and reach out for His outstretched hand. The choice is ours. Are we willing to come down upon our knees and truly seek the Lord our God in true repentance.
''..Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven……………..'
Hebrews 12:26
Let me leave this sharing with the following verses. Do reflect upon it even if you are at the abyss of your life at this moment. The darkness might be upon you, but the light of our loving God is shining brightly.
Restoration and healing(of your soul, not sure about one's wealth though) will come. But the world will be a different place from what we know. Sinfulness will intensify and so will the shaking. It is time that we awaken, or be awakened even more painfully when the next storm comes, as it will surely come.
'And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace..'
Luke 8:48
'But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole'
Luke 8:50
'And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.'
Matthew 21:21-22
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
Note
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"Then the Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me. Behold,I have put My words in thy mouth'
Jeremiah 1:9
I believe these are truly the words that our God have used me to remind us all of where our faith should be anchored, in these very fearful times.
And God is good. Today for those in the financial business or with financial investments or even real businesses will realized we are near pandemonium.
Yet, as I sit down to complete this sharing, God truly took away not just the very bad neck ache(and maybe a possible heart attack) I have been carrying these past few days, but He gave me this inner peace, a priviledge in these very tense times.
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