Staying Strong in Tough Times

Staying Strong in Tough Times

Times are tough—I don't really need to tell you that, because you're hearing it from a lot of places.

• We're going through a difficult economic downturn (job layoffs, credit problems, Fanny Mae and Freddie Mack bank and mortgage crisis, bankruptcies, decline in housing market, investment loss)
• STATISTICS. 10.3 million now unemployed; unemployment rate increased in November to 6.7 percent. [http://hr.cch.com/news/hrm/122608a.asp]
• Last week, first-time filings for unemployment benefits hit 586,000—the highest in 26 years. [Consumers Spend More... by Annys Shin, Washington Post, December 25, 2008; Page A01]
• This holiday season, excluding gasoline, retail sales were down 2% to 4% over last year [http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/us-stocks-turn-final-week/story.aspx?guid={E5CE7280-CA64-40A3-B30F-2870EE4B6464}]
• This year Dow industrials have lost 35.8%; the S&P 500 is down 40.6%; the Nasdaq Composite has fallen 42.3%. [http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/us-stocks-turn-final-week/story.aspx?guid={E5CE7280-CA64-40A3-B30F-2870EE4B6464}]
• In Canada, someone started marketing "Bailout Bitter"—which they describe as a "bitter ale for bitter times."
• In San Diego, "Sarah's Smash Shack" opened up, charging people $10 for 15 minutes of stress-relieving pleasure by pulverizing dishes against a wall. One couple who had their home mortgage loan rejected went there to smash plates. "It was the best $50 we've spent in the last two years," said Adam DeWitt.

If you believe all the media tell you, then you know we're living in pretty tough times. Every night I watch the news, I find something new to worry about or to be afraid of. It's gotten so I'm starved for some good news for a change.

How about you? As we leave 2008 behind and stumble into 2009, would you like to hear some good news? There is plenty good news available, but you have to know where to find it.

The first bit of good news? There's always something to learn during tough times. Difficulties can teach us to trust God more—to see things from God's point of view. Here are a few things I think we need to learn as God's people. First...

1.     Attitude makes a huge difference. A good attitude gives you an advantage in getting through tough times. Growing your faith, of course, is the best way to nurture a good attitude.

How do you look at trouble? How well you get through tough times will often depend upon your perspective—how you look at difficulties, how you interpret challenges. The key to how well people get through tough times often is their attitude.

"Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts" (Prov 4:23, TEV).

For instance, I can tell you that the U.S. unemployment rate shot up to 6.7 percent in November. OR, I can tell you that the U.S. employment rate dropped to 93.3 percent in November. It's the same bit of information, but how I look at it makes a huge difference. One perspective leaves a totally different feeling than the other perspective.

Perspective is also affected by what we compare our troubles to. If I look at people who live in bigger, nicer houses or who drive newer, fancier cars, I'm going to start feeling sorry for myself. But if I look at people who live in cardboard houses or who don't even own a bicycle, then I'm going to feel pretty comfortable in my drafty old house and quite privileged to drive a 10-year-old car.

Or compare today's unemployment rate to the Great Depression era. For nearly three years (from February 1932 to December 1934) the unemployment rate never went below 20 percent for any month, according to the Vedder and Gallaway statistics. [http://www.thecitizen.com/~citizen0/node/34003]

Or you could compare our job troubles in the U.S. to the problems in other countries. A number of countries would love to have 6.7% unemployment. According the The World Factbook, Egypt is at 10.1%, Sau8di Arabia at 13%, Poland at 14.9%, Dominican Republic at 15.5%, Iraq at 18%, South Africa at 23.2%, Honduras at 27.8%, Kenya at 40%, and Zimbabwe at 80% unemployment. But most of these figures are a year old or more, so they're probably worse now!

Another thing we need to learn about tough times as we enter the new year is that...

2.     Things have "always" been bad.

...at least there are always things to complain about. You can always find bad news if you want to!

We need to remember that tough times are inevitable! You may enjoy a lot of good times, but eventually, you're going to face a setback. Eventually, it's going to rain on your parade.

In life, you cannot jump from mountain top to mountain top. You cannot go from one high to the next high. In life, you have to go through some valleys.

Let's take global warming, for instance. It's all the rage these days. But despite what you've heard about global warming, here's the reality: we're going to have warm seasons and cold seasons. In some seasons you'll feel comfortable—you can wear short sleeves and cut-offs; you can go swimming and water skiing. But if you stay in Minnesota, there are other seasons where you'll need to wear more than a short-sleeve T-shirt or a swimming suit. And when cold weather comes, you'd better be prepared. You've got to have your thermal underwear, your parka, your choppers, your scarf, and your boots.

You and I and everyone who lives north of Minneapolis, know we're going to have to deal with winter. You cannot live in Minnesota without eventually experiencing some snow and ice and cold. This is why we still see people from Cloquet migrate to Arizona or Florida every winter. And did you ever notice that you never see Al Gore vacationing in Minnesota when it's -25°?

By the way, did you know that Newsweek magazine printed an article in April 1975 called "The Cooling World." The National Academy of Sciences warned ominously, "A major climatic change would force economic and social adjustments on a worldwide scale, because the global patterns of food production and population that have evolved are implicitly dependent on the climate of the present century." They were concerned that cooling temperatures were going to disrupt our agriculture.

We know that weather around here comes in seasons. We cycle through both warm and cold weather. It's the same thing when it comes to the economy climate! Even the economy has seasons. Sometimes it's blazing hot; but at other times, the economy cools down. There are upturns and downturns. There are bears and bulls. There are gains and losses. In this life, you're going to have to weather an economic blizzard or two, because that's the way it is.

So let's not be too surprised when we have to deal with some shifting economic indicators. There have always been tough times just around the corner.

But here's the bigger lesson. It's not just the economy or the weather we're talking about. The principle holds true for all areas of life. We will experience seasons in all of life—we will go through ups and downs. There will be times of tears as well as times of laughter.

Jesus gave us a promise we would do well to remember when things get tough. He said, "In this world you will have trouble" (John 16:30).

Ecclesiastes in the Bible says: "¹ There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven...a time to tear down and a time to build, ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance..." (Eccl 3:1-8).

If we're going to make it through tough times, we have to start by remembering that tough times are not unusual. We know they're going to come, so we should prepare for them. Some ways to prepare:

• Don't run up credit card debt like there is no tomorrow. A year ago, consumers owed $971 billion, which is $3,184 of credit card debt per person, or $8,299 per household. [http://useconomy.about.com /b/2008/11/11/american-credit-card-debt-grows-a-mere-12.htm] If you're about average, cut up your credit cards and learn to cut back until you can live on what you make. "...the borrower becomes the lender's slave" (Prov 22:7, NASB).
• Don't be fooled by get-rich schemes. Investment promises that are too good to be true usually are. The Bible says, "⁴ Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. ⁵ Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle" (Prov 23:4-5).
• Take care to plan ahead. Prepare for the inevitable downturn. "⁶ Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and be wise! ⁷ Even though they have no prince, governor, or ruler to make them work, ⁸ they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter" (Prov 6:6-8, NLT).

Tough times remind us that we should be prepared for the future. Did you manage God's blessings well enough so you were ready for the times we're in now? If not, what can you do to get ready for the next time things get tough?

Here's a question: Does your furnace ever break down in the summer when it's 90+° and the air is sticky with humidity? Of course not! It breaks down when times get tough, when sub-zero temperatures grip the town.

When it's needed most, that's when something breaks down. That's true in life as well—your financial challenges will typically come when the economy's slowing down, not when things are going well.

So the couple with a sub-prime, zero-down ARM thought it sounded great during good times. But when things changed, that great deal started to feel like a bad furnace in the dead of winter. Or the young guy just out of college with $10,000 in credit card debt, school loans, and a car payment. That might have been okay when the college guaranteed he'd find a job, but a year into his job search with no success, it's feeling like a broken furnace in the dead of winter.

• Don't waste what you have. When we receive material blessings from God, we should not squander them on frivolous activities or unnecessary luxuries. In fact, we should learn to be more generous. "¹⁷Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. ¹⁹ In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life" (1 Tim 6:17-19).

As we go into 2009 there's another lesson to learn from tough times...

3.     Tough times present unique opportunities.

If you have faith and confidence that God is still in control and that he will get you through, then when tough times come, you'll have the opportunity to...

• Praise God anyway—despite troubles you may be facing. "¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, ¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior" (Hab 3:17-18).
• Reprioritize your life. Now is the time to decide what really is most important! It's time to learn how to let go of the unimportant so you can be better prepared for the future. "¹⁹ Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt 6:19-21). "³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?' or ‘What shall we drink?' or ‘What shall we wear?' ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matt 6:31-33).
• See God work in unusual ways. Andre Crouch: If I never had a problem, I wouldn't know that he could solve them.

Remember what we said about keeping things in perspective. I wasn't alive during the Depression when unemployment reached 30 percent, but some of you remember those times. You remember chipping mortar off used bricks so you could build a new church, even though you barely had two nickels to rub together. But God helped you through!

There have been many ups and downs since that time. I remember the gasoline shortage in the early 70s when prices went up and cars lined up to wait for hours to buy gas. Then there was the downturn of the early eighties, mortgage loans were going for about 20% or more. Our church building project in Texas, was built during that era. And God provided a way for us despite the cost of financing.

Then there was black Monday in 1987, and the recession of 1991 and 1992. There was the dot com tech crash at the end of the 90s. And, of course, all the economic trouble that happened after 9/11. God got us through tough times in the past—we managed to have enough to eat, food to wear, a place to stay when it was -25°.

God helped us before, so we have faith to believe he will help us now. And when we see God come through in unexpected ways (or teach us something out of the ordinary), there is another benefit as well. We can...

• Grow stronger in faith. Exercise your faith muscle and learn how to live confidently. Plenty of people make the most of difficult times: politicians, news media [sensational stuff sells, so they make more money], Warren Buffett...Amazon.com reports its 2008 holiday season is the best they've ever had. Walmart has used the economic downturn to improve its share of the market and increase its profits.

If we are people of faith, shouldn't we show at least as much confidence as all those people? If our confidence is in God, then tough times shouldn't shake our confidence!

"¹¹ ...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content* in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do everything through him who gives me strength" (Phil 4:11-13).

Difficult times motivate people to become more creative about how they earn and spend their money. People are saving more now than before—savings was up 16.7 percent in November over October to 2.8 percent of disposable income. [Consumers Spend More... by Annys Shin, Washington Post, December 25, 2008; Page A01]

*The secret to being content? Growing in our faith...trusting in God...being confident that he will provide—and learning when to say: "Enough."

When things are tight, we can learn contentment on a whole new level. Paul says it can be learned. And when you learn to be content, you are set free from the frantic rush to get more stuff. You can learn to say, "Enough."

Enough with the upgrades. Enough with the improvements. Enough with the redecorating. Enough with the extras and the toys and the clothes and the tech gadgets. Enough!