Tough Times Survival kit

With billion dollar government bail-outs, failing banks, gas station lines, and the political turmoil of an election year life is somewhat stressful these days. I can imagine that some of you are feeling the squeeze right now. I prayed today that the Lord would give me insight on what to do for everyone. I want to offer you a Tough Times Survival Kit.

TTS Kit item # 1:
Funnel worry energy into prayer energy. Phil 4:6-7 says, "Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."

In tough times it is essential that you keep yourself emotionally fit. Worry eats away at your emotional strength making coping difficult. In addition the worrier often hurts their relationships as worry makes you challenging to be around if not down right mean and nasty to everyone. Worry also hinders your ability to see things clearly. Clouded by worry, your mind sees only problems instead of possibilities.

TTS Kit Item # 2:
Act on what you can do. So often the challenges we face cause us to not take action on what would help us deal with our challenges. Don't let what you can't do keep you from doing what you can do! In the midst of the darkest moments of the Civil War when it looked like the north could not win, Abraham Lincoln said, "I refuse to surrender the game, until every card is played...and I have a few more cards." We all have some cards we can play. In Proverbs 13:3 we read, "Easy come, easy go, but steady diligence pays off."

There are probably some cards you can play. Work more if you can to save more money or pay off debt. Reduce spending. And here is a big one...Come to Casey Graham's Rethink Money event this Saturday at Mill Creek HS! There are some things you can do...do them.

TTS Kit Item # 3:
Be good to those in need. In Psalm 41 we learn, "Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The Lord rescues them when they are in trouble. The Lord protects them and keeps them alive. He gives them prosperity in the land and rescues them from their enemies. The Lord nurses them when they are sick and restores them to health."

I mean, even if it were not good to be good to the poor it does appear that it would be wise to do so. But so often we get a "ride-it-out" mindset in tough times where we refuse to share with others. It appears from Psalm 41 that the only way to really guarantee we will be OK in tough times is to care for others, and earn God's favor. The tough times may outlast our savings but they will not outlast God.

In short we can survive tough times if we will pray instead of worry, act instead of wish, and give instead of hoard. Who knows, we may even thrive instead of just survive!

Blessed Contradictions

So that I would not become too proud of the wonderful things that were shown to me, a painful physical problem was given to me. (Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7)

Recently I have been contemplating what I call blessed contradictions. They are things that seem bad, but they really are good. Paul was given a 'thorn in the flesh' to keep him on the ground and free of arrogance. Casey Graham told our church Sunday his grandfather committed suicide over financial pressure. But now Casey leads an organization focused on giving people financial freedom. These are blessed contradictions.

The thing is, I think many of us see the bad things in our lives as only being bad things. The difficulties, the struggles, the pains...they could not be a blessing much less a gift from God (as Paul described his thorn.) We tend to have a very black and white view of life. We find it very difficult to imagine the bad stuff potentially being the good stuff. So the bad stuff and often the God who allows it get a bad rap.

In our world, having a flexible and patient perspective on the bad things is rare. But I think as Christ-followers we must take at least a wait and see attitude about everything that seems bad--if not, a positive faith that what is bad will be made into something good. Jesus said in John 16:33,

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

I am reminded of the story of the butterfly striving to break free from its cocoon. A well-meaning boy enlarged the opening in the cocoon to make it easier for the chrysalis to emerge. Finally the butterfly was free of the cocoon. But instead of flying away into joyful emancipation, the butterfly made a few feeble flaps of its wings and then laid down in death. Because the butterfly did not have to struggle to break free from the cocoon, the muscles necessary to fly were never developed. In an effort to free the butterfly the boy had killed it all because he saw something that was really good as being something bad.

What are you looking at in your life right now that you think is bad that is actually good? Don't take a shortcut around it. Seek God as Paul did and try to understand what is going on. Paul refused to quit praying until God either took away the thorn or helped him understand why it had to remain. And you may find out that what you thought was really bad is actually a blessed, blessed contradiction.

Real Financial Heroes and ReThink Money

I know a lot of people are struggling financially. What are going to do about it? Don't miss Casey this week at The Crossing. Check out this video...its pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33OE65bNclc&NR=1