Month: March 2020

Try Trusting

Try Trusting

We are in unprecedented times and honestly, it is very disheartening to listen to the news, yet, we are compelled to do so in order to keep up with things that are changing so quickly. We are told we must self-isolate in order to protect ourselves and the people we love. Governments are having emergency meetings in order to deal with not only the health pandemic but also to provide sufficient stimulus to stabilize stock markets yet, recession seems inevitable. 

There seems to be no easy solutions and we are constantly being bombarded with bad news. Our measure of peace and contentment ultimately depends on what we are trusting in. If our sense of peace comes from the money that’s been accumulated, then it is understandable that you have less peace today than a month ago (because if your investments are connected to the stock market, you have less money than a month ago).

The wisdom of Proverbs (18:11) says,

“The rich think of their wealth as a strong defence; they imagine it to be a high wall of safety.”

This reveals the greatest risk around money – when we accumulate it, we begin to trust it & when we lose it we lose our peace.

“Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.”  Proverbs 23:5

I wonder if it says it “flies toward the heavens” because that is where the wealth came from in the first place? After all, God gives us the power to make wealth (Deut. 8:18).  It’s interesting that the Bible also says, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven” (John 3:27). Maybe a situation like Covid-19 is meant to redirect us back to the true source of our health and even our wealth – heaven! 

Portfolio loss creates fear naturally. We do not want to see loss and it causes anxiety, but consider this – what if the money is not actually ours in the first place? What if it is just entrusted to us to manage? We may feel like we are not doing a great job in our management roles in the midst of this, but we must understand that what is happening right now is beyond our control. We need to realize that God owns it all and He desires that we be invested (particularly our lives, but also our money). We cannot control what’s happening in our world and we must focus on what we can control, which is how we respond to all that is happening.

Many ask, “Where is God in all this; doesn’t He care?” Interesting that most places of worship are now closed and forced to go online in this crisis. That allowed me to hear a message this past Sunday that I would have otherwise not heard. What was shared was a most familiar story from the Bible when Jesus was asleep in the boat and a vicious storm arose, seemingly out of nowhere. There was a sense of panic in the disciples, likely very similar to what many are feeling during these days. The disciples felt helpless and completely powerless to deal with this situation (after all it was out of their control). Our situation now is beyond our control in a similar manner.

In this story, Jesus is sleeping and the disciples are full of fear. The disciples wake Him up and his response to them is to address their level of fear and speak to the storm to calm it. Let me quote this pastor friend of mine: “We are in unprecedented times and it may be unprecedented for you to even consider calling on Jesus, but we need to wake Him in our lives.” The Bible says that God neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psm. 121:1), but it may seem that He is asleep and not caring for us at times like these.  In many cases, the storm may rage around us but we can have a peace in the midst of that storm. The calm that comes within us allows us to face the storm that is around us.

Realize this: God is someone you can trust, especially in the storm, so look to the heavens. Your faith can sustain you through this pandemic.

 

Have You Hit Bottom Yet?

Have You Hit Bottom Yet?

It is hard to believe what is happening in our world these past few weeks. Conferences, major international sporting events, schools are cancelled and even our country’s borders are being restricted. Provinces have declared states of emergency while most people are now working from home where possible. Many businesses are shut down to guard against infection of Coronavirus which is wreaking havoc on the economy.

Screen Shot 2020-03-19 at 3.37.57 PMThe end of February saw the sharpest 7- day decline in the history of the stock market. Markets go through downturns, corrections and even crashes for many different reasons. In 2008, it was the housing crisis, prior to that, we had the technology bubble and 9-11, so a 30% loss is not really anything new. Ron Blue, the founder of Kingdom Advisors says, “Fear is a normal human response to economic uncertainty.” I have heard it said that “It’s different this time and what we are experiencing now is unprecedented,” but the fact is, “Economic uncertainty is certain.” The reasons for the uncertainty are always different, but the response is the same every time: fear and panic.

The Bible instructs us to “Be anxious for nothing” yet, fear and panic is the typical and natural response. It was even this way in the time of Jesus. Think of the disciples in their boat in the midst of the storm – they were in panic mode, “But Jesus was sleeping!” (Matt. 8:24b). Jesus was in a different place, yet, he was in the same boat as the disciples who were fearful. He was emotionally and spiritually secure, resting despite being tossed by the wind and waves just like the disciples. Jesus said they had “little faith.”

Back to the markets for a minute: Bob Doll, Chief Economic Strategist, said on March 16 in his commentary, “We think stocks are bottoming, but that process will take some time.” I recently heard him say the market making a bottom is not an event, it’s a process. I expect the same is true for us; when we are in the midst of fear and panic, the move from there (place of fear) to faith and confidence is a process, not an event. 

Phil. 4:6-7 instructs us to “bring everything through prayer & petition, with thanksgiving.” I believe this is the process that moves us from being anxious about everything to the peace which surpasses all understanding, where our hearts and minds are guarded and we can sleep in the storm.  Part of that process is thanksgiving. How are we thankful today? If you have suffered a paper loss on your investments in recent days, you may not be happy about it, but you can certainly be thankful that you have those investments (many have no investments and would love to have your losses because it means they at least have investments).

It is easy to quote a Bible verse and feel we get it, but in reality, getting to that place of rest and peace is a process, a journey. Being thankful is part of that process and it seems that crisis is often part of that journey, at least from my experience. 

Please look at this graph below. Where would you graph yourself today?

Screen Shot 2020-03-19 at 4.34.40 PM

Now go back to early February 2020, when things were much more stable, markets were making new highs and there were just whispers of Coronavirus. Would you graph yourself differently?  Our circumstances tend to shift us from faith into fear, then we tend to bottom out and the process of making a bottom (like in the markets) begins. That typically means we bounce from “mostly fearful” to “some fear,” maybe back to “mostly fearful” until some truth enters our hearts and we move to “neutral.” Then more toward “some faith,” maybe back to “neutral” but the more truth enters, the more “faith-filled” we become. That process in the market is very much like the process of shifting us away from “mostly fearful” and closer to that place where “the peace of God which surpasses our understanding will guard our hearts & minds.”

If you are a financial advisor, you have the opportunity to walk with your clients through this process. In the midst of self-isolation, pray for opportunities to strengthen and encourage others to move away from the fear that so easily fills our hearts. Once you get to that place of faith, circumstances tend to have less and less of an impact and we can remain strong. This is what it means to “walk by faith and not by sight,” (or the circumstances around us). Getting to that place is a process!

Where are you in the process? Closer to “mostly fearful” or “faith-filled?”