Bad Times Don't Last
03/23/09 08:03 Filed in: Adversity
“Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth.” (John 4: 43-54)
The first lesson it has to teach us is that bad times don’t last but good people do. Time and again, God’s people have suffered through one adversity after another only to emerge stronger than before. That can be true for us as well. We simply have to learn from our mistakes and recover by returning to the core values of our faith.
The first lesson it has to teach us is that bad times don’t last but good people do. Time and again, God’s people have suffered through one adversity after another only to emerge stronger than before. That can be true for us as well. We simply have to learn from our mistakes and recover by returning to the core values of our faith.
“Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth.” (John 4: 43-54)
The Galileans were skeptics. They wanted to see more signs of the kind that Jesus had performed in Jerusalem during the Passover. When Jesus realized they were more interested in His miracles than in His message, he became frustrated. After all He has just come from Samaria where an entire village had come to believe in what He had to say without seeing any wondrous signs.
But when a nobleman man beseeched Jesus to heal his dying son, the Lord was moved with compassion for the grieving father.
“Go thy way,” He said, “thy son liveth.”
The man left immediately and, such was his faith, that his entire household came to believe in Jesus.
The faith of that man should serve as a model for all of us who seek signs - - signs of an economic recovery, signs of looser credit, signs that companies are hiring again. In desperation, we sometimes look for signs in the wrong places - - horoscopes have become one of the most popular online search terms. I just typed the word into my web browser and got 39,100,000 hits. Fortunately, four times as many people are searching for the Bible online.
The Bible has a lot to say about the hard times we are living through.
The first lesson it has to teach us is that bad times don’t last but good people do. Time and again, God’s people have suffered through one adversity after another only to emerge stronger than before. That can be true for us as well. We simply have to learn from our mistakes and recover by returning to the core values of our faith.
“Be not fashioned according to this world,” Paul wrote, “but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
The second lesson is that we must free ourselves “from all covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” (Luke 12:15) Our net worth and our self worth are not the same. Our wordly wealth may disappear in the span of a single news bulletin but, in the eyes of God, our self worth remains undiminished for all time.
One of the core values we have to renew is a spirit of thrift. In the ‘90s, many people were persuaded to take on mortgages they couldn’t afford and their American Dream became a living nightmare. Still others took on huge credit card debts. All have learned to their regret that, “The rich ruleth over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7)
But going forward, there are reasons to hope. Mortgage interest rates are at record lows. Unemployment benefits are being extended. And there are tax breaks for many in the economic recovery plan. Even the IRS has promised to be “kinder, gentler” this year. We don’t know how our needs will be met, but we do know we are children of a loving, provident Father. As Saint Paul wrote, “God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
When fear stalks the night and we cannot sleep, we can pick up the Bible, turn to 2 Timothy 1:7 and read: “God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline.” The power of prayer can banish fear. The love and support of caring friends can help see us through this painful transition. The discipline of financial planning and budgeting can make sure it doesn’t happen again.
When our job search is bogged down, we can follow Paul’s advice to the Corinthians: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord. ”(1 Corinthians 15:58)
When the unpaid bills pile up and we’re not sure where to turn, we can find some solace in the words of John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.” Then we can speak to our lenders and try to negotiate new loan terms.
It’s too soon to say how steep and how long this recession might be, but if we take to heart the message Jesus tried to impart to the Galileans, we will come out of this stronger than ever. We will be like “ a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came the torrents struck that house but could not shake it because it was well built." (Luke 6:48)
The Galileans were skeptics. They wanted to see more signs of the kind that Jesus had performed in Jerusalem during the Passover. When Jesus realized they were more interested in His miracles than in His message, he became frustrated. After all He has just come from Samaria where an entire village had come to believe in what He had to say without seeing any wondrous signs.
But when a nobleman man beseeched Jesus to heal his dying son, the Lord was moved with compassion for the grieving father.
“Go thy way,” He said, “thy son liveth.”
The man left immediately and, such was his faith, that his entire household came to believe in Jesus.
The faith of that man should serve as a model for all of us who seek signs - - signs of an economic recovery, signs of looser credit, signs that companies are hiring again. In desperation, we sometimes look for signs in the wrong places - - horoscopes have become one of the most popular online search terms. I just typed the word into my web browser and got 39,100,000 hits. Fortunately, four times as many people are searching for the Bible online.
The Bible has a lot to say about the hard times we are living through.
The first lesson it has to teach us is that bad times don’t last but good people do. Time and again, God’s people have suffered through one adversity after another only to emerge stronger than before. That can be true for us as well. We simply have to learn from our mistakes and recover by returning to the core values of our faith.
“Be not fashioned according to this world,” Paul wrote, “but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
The second lesson is that we must free ourselves “from all covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” (Luke 12:15) Our net worth and our self worth are not the same. Our wordly wealth may disappear in the span of a single news bulletin but, in the eyes of God, our self worth remains undiminished for all time.
One of the core values we have to renew is a spirit of thrift. In the ‘90s, many people were persuaded to take on mortgages they couldn’t afford and their American Dream became a living nightmare. Still others took on huge credit card debts. All have learned to their regret that, “The rich ruleth over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7)
But going forward, there are reasons to hope. Mortgage interest rates are at record lows. Unemployment benefits are being extended. And there are tax breaks for many in the economic recovery plan. Even the IRS has promised to be “kinder, gentler” this year. We don’t know how our needs will be met, but we do know we are children of a loving, provident Father. As Saint Paul wrote, “God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
When fear stalks the night and we cannot sleep, we can pick up the Bible, turn to 2 Timothy 1:7 and read: “God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline.” The power of prayer can banish fear. The love and support of caring friends can help see us through this painful transition. The discipline of financial planning and budgeting can make sure it doesn’t happen again.
When our job search is bogged down, we can follow Paul’s advice to the Corinthians: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord. ”(1 Corinthians 15:58)
When the unpaid bills pile up and we’re not sure where to turn, we can find some solace in the words of John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.” Then we can speak to our lenders and try to negotiate new loan terms.
It’s too soon to say how steep and how long this recession might be, but if we take to heart the message Jesus tried to impart to the Galileans, we will come out of this stronger than ever. We will be like “ a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came the torrents struck that house but could not shake it because it was well built." (Luke 6:48)
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