Invest in Your faith
If you’ve ever leaped into the world of investing, as I have, you would’ve surely come across the infamous quote by the ‘Oracle of Omaha’, Warren Buffet, “Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy and Greedy When Others Are Fearful”. I’ve paraphrased, but you get the gist. In these turbulent times ( I refrain from overusing the word unprecedented) cash seems to be king. Volatility is seeping through every core of our existence, not just financial. Even if I were to pay homage to Buffet’s quote, I still don’t have the mustard or the cash to pick up the phone and ring Hugh the investment banker to drop a few K’s on British Petroleum. Not that I have a Hugh in my life nor do I condone the support of large gas companies leaking their way into where my daughter paddles on a hot summer’s day. However, such a leap requires faith. And faith isn’t related to hope or risk.
Our daily life is much like the stock market. The market opening is the start of your day. If you stumble out of bed and stub your toe on the way to make your morning coffee only to find you’ve run out of almond milk, well, that’s a negative net change. Simply put, your morning looks dangerously red along with your toe. However, on the odd occasion, you might find yourself gently woken up with a paper in hand, and an English breakfast spread set on a tray before you. Along with a coffee, almond milk, of course. That my friends would be a hard spike of green. Now some people don’t like to sit around and wait. They’re already thinking about tomorrow, just like Stevie sings. They’re either shorting or holding. But as we know in life, nothing is a certainty no matter how much you DYOR.
As you can probably tell, I’m edging closer to the analogy.
Faith is shutting out the noise of the populous. The fear mongers. The doom and gloom-anati. Like any peak and trough, you can spend your day worrying, or you can hold steadfast in your faith. God doesn’t want us to be consumed by the highs and lows of the day. His way is a straight and continuous one.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight — Proverbs 3:5–6.
Many people are as fickle as a curve. When the going is good, humanity goes all in and doesn’t stick to their beliefs. However, when the going gets tough, people drop to their knees. After all, there are no atheists in foxholes. Faith isn’t in the head. It’s not about rolling the dice and hitting a jackpot. Faith is the heart. It’s guided by the spirit. And to hear the spirit requires time spent reading His word. That’s the closest we can come to ‘doing your own research’. This year alone has seen environmental disasters, health crises, and political turmoil. You only need to open social media to get a sense of the fear and anxiety pervading society. It’s real and it’s raw. And worst of all it’s close to home. On the doorstep.
Buffet is no Moses, but if ever a time rings true of mass hysteria, now is when we need to be greedy for faith. Seek it, dig deep, hold on to it tight, and trust God with all of your might. Only the God of restoration knows how this will all close. Faith is a straight line, but you’ll be richer for walking it.
