Articles
How to Thrive in a Bear Market
During hard times Christians have the advantage. No one is better equipped than God’s people to deal with recession and a fluctuating stock market. Christians need not fear the Wall Street Bear.
It is a time to trust. We can place all our trust in God because He is so trustworthy. Though the economy is in a state of flux, God never changes. Our vital connection with Him provides us with a stability we could never find elsewhere. We can sleep at night, avoid worry, and actually take on life as a fascinating challenge course.
It is a time to grow. What a great opportunity we have to develop our spiritual “muscles”! Hardship can bring out the best in us and make us stronger than we’ve ever been. Christians who survived the Great Depression had a toughness about them that maybe we need too.
It is a time to be content. Paul wrote, “…I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have leaned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:11b-13 NASB). Paul learned the secret. So can we!
It is a time to exercise our influence. During the storm at sea recorded in Acts 27, Paul’s fellow passengers could see there was something different about this man. His words encouraged them. His faith in God showed them what it means to be a Christian in a crisis (Acts 27).
Someday we’ll look back on this time and be grateful we had the opportunity to live through it—with God’s help and to His glory.
