Dear….
'The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of God stands forever.'
Isaiah 40:8
As the economy begins to wilt under the oppressive heat from the financial markets meltdown, the latter itself behaving like a multi-layered cake, where one thought that the layer that has melted is the last, and to be confronted by the next layer waiting to melt down, there are many a soul who can no longer cope with the fruitlessness of their struggles to stay afloat financially, and choose the seemingly easy way out, ie suicide.
'And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.'
Isaiah 29:3
Anecdotal snippets it might be, but if it is true, it seems the incidents of suicide related to this present wealth destruction is on the rise. The difference could be unlike past cycles, wealth destruction now cuts across all spectrum, and is hitting especially hard, those who have traditionally been immune, ie those whose worth are in the usd50mio and above category. The closest living experience for all is the last Asian Crisis, a decade back, but even then, it only really hit a couple of geograhic locations(ie Asia and Latin America), with the West sitting pretty. And unlike this crisis, those who were affected were the business people who took on usd loans, but even for them, their personal wealth were already squirrlled away somewhere safe. Financial market destruction a decade back, was also limited to only the same geographic locations. Today, globalization has brought everyone onto the same level, or more like levelled playing field.
'While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.'
Genesis 8:22
But thankfully, something things do not change. The Word of God is still very alive today and in fact, many of the Biblical truths that God spoke to us are being lived out today.
Eg "lean not on your own understanding…"(Proverbs 3:5) and indeed, many have come to grief today because they have depended upon their own finite prudence, never expecting good quality companies that they had invested in to totally capitulate. This time round, the perceived safe investments were the one that truly "killed" many financially.
'…ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you…….'
James 5:1
Eg "the pursuit of wealth bring much grief"(1 Timothy 6:10) and look around you, you will see the ashen -faced demeanour of many once rich and powerful, now severely humbled by the crisis. Devastated might be the present situation for many once rich, but downright poor might soon be the more apt description if they do not address their situation soon, instead of living on hope. In fact, many are now trying to raise cash selling their many properties into an increasingly illiquid market.
Eg "where your treasures are, your heart is" (Matthew 6:21) and many have a confused state of mind and a heavy heart, for they have the wealth(at least till recently) but know not where is safe to put it. Now many do not have this problem of safe refuge for their wealth, for it is now very much diminished A friend just told me there was this chap who had US$100,000,000 in various types of structured products on a leveraged basis and ended up with a major stroke when his once friendly and subservient bankers, turned the screws on during Deepavali, when instead of bringing light to his day, brought the ominous darkness of impending bankruptcy with their intense margin calls.
'…If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations. But if ye turn unto Me, and keep My commandments, and do them, though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set My name there.'
Nehemiah 1:8-9
On a similar vein, much as the amplitude of this present cycle might be shocking in its depth and intensity, things will come back, for that is the promise of our Lord, till He returns. But will you be willing to turn unto Him and away from the world?? God forgives a truly humbled and contrite heart. At the sermon in my church just yesterday, my Pastor shared about her own trials and tribulations a decade back in the Asian crisis. The humbling was painful, for her and her hubby to move from being up there in the upper strata of society to living from hand to mouth. Her debts took quite a few years to settle, which by God's grace she did on the day she completed her seminary studies, but God was with them, even as they like Job, put on sackcloth and suffered material deprivation but what material wealth they gave up, not by choice, they more than received in the peace and joy that only God can provide. And God brought her to the right vocation, for all of us are servants of our Lord, be it in full time ministry or in our secular jobs.
'For all those things hath Mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word.'
Isaiah 66:2
Déjà vu, it might seem indeed for my pastor. Yet, for myself, and for many of us who have gone through the Asian crisis, it might seem like the sequel to Murdur on Elm Street. I started to take a tentative step back to church back in 1997. About the time the Asian crisis began to really look like one, though its begiinings were in end 1994. I went back to church not because of the crisis, but rather, there was this desire to include the church as part of what was missing in my life, having achieved a fair degree of success in the other Cs(ie club, cards, condo and career). Even in my self centred stage, God is good,and He started to bring me into His fold, even with that little inkling of desire I had a decade back, after a previous decade of ignoring Him totally.
To be totally unscathed in that last Asian crisis I was not. But I was truly sheltered to a great extent and though my successful business had to be half destroyed, for that was the only way to suffer and yet survive the relentless destruction, I could sense God's provisions all through that crisis, which culminated in 1998. And now unlike many in the business, my business is being reshaped, but not destroyed.
So what kept me steady even as my world shook then? And what is the will of God for me now as the world shakes even more intensely than a decade back?
Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.'
Proverbs 12:25
God is the Word, and the Word is God(John 1:1). And during that time, even in my believer but less than following stage of Christian growth, the Word of God truly came alive for me. God spoke, guided, taught and corrected me in so many wonderful ways and though it needed the sanctification of His Holy Spirit upon me that fateful nite in year 2000,( after the Asian crisis) for me to truly want to follow Him, with no hesitation, those years of the Asian crisis was the time that His Word, the Bible was truly a source of comfort, joy, grace and enlightenment for me. Time being immersed in His Word(during the Asian crisis) were on hindsight, also God's preparing me for the move from believer to follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. For how can we follow God if we do not know Him?
'My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation insecure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.'
Isaiah 32:18
Being blown off the cliffs might be the norm now for many. Despite being buffetted by the storms as well, the Lord our God has been good to me and those who knows Him, for He has placed us all in the shelter of the crevices on the edge of the hills as we cling on to the Rock of our faith, and though it is not a pretty sight to see the angst of many whose comfort were never in our Lord, but in what is now truly the temporal, is there not something us the blessed can do for God commands us to love others as much as ourselves?
'Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him. Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.'
James 5:20
This morning, I was at the Subordinate Court to settle a matter that I believe was important. That is, to try to encourage corporates to take both their corporate and social responsibility and not shirk behind technicalities or strength of their resource versus the puny individual. I went not with any expectations of judgement on my counter party, for to do so, will not make me a better follower of our Lord. But my prayer was to be there and be sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. It turned out to be a non event as the case was not within the juridiction of the chosen office, but it was still good, the Lord allowed me to convey the message of responsibility to the higher ups of my counterparty. But more importantly, the Lord brought me to a lunchplace across the road. This was no ordinary place. It was a restaurant/Christian bookshop run as a rehabilitative halfway house for ex-prisoners/drug addicts(website http://www.breakthroughmissions.org).
'Hear the Word of the Lord, ye that trembleth at His Word…'
Isaiah 66:5
In allowing our lives to be shaken up, its roots being our own sinfulness, God wants to help us break free from the addictive grip of Satan's wiles. Our souls are at stake and when we realize that, then the pain that one is undergoing will over time pale in comparison to what we will be receiving in exchange. It is a process and God knows our limits.
'Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
….I any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms..'
James 5:11-13
The Word of God is not about knowledge but about knowing God. The Bible is not an old history book from eons back, but truly the Word of God that comes alive and brings healing and His living presence into our lives, if we allow Him( 2 Timothy 3:15-17). "For the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to change the people of God"(Daily Bread 17th Jul 2007)
'Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.'
James 4:10
'Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away…'
James 4:14-15
Do use this present reprief in the financial markets to make right your financials, painful as it is. And more importantly your life, for now is the time to come unto the presence of God our Father, for healing can only start, continue and end with Him. To continue to dither will only deepen one's grief, for to hope otherwise is to look away from God.
'If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.'
John 8:36
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(3 Nov 2008)
Do reflect upon the following verses, whatever station of life one finds oneself in, for every Word of God will speak to your heart
'A wise son heareth his father's instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke…'
Proverbs 13:1
'Let brotherly love continue……Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body….'
Hebrews 13:1-3
'But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.'
Hebrews 13:16
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment