letters to a modern-day Job

My Secret Ingredient

In times like this, I always fall back on my Christian faith. Just like in the GFC, I find the wisdom and precision God gives very necessary to combat the fear and information thrown at us from all sides in the financial markets.

The ability to be brave when everyone is fearful and clear thinking in the midst of chaos does not come naturally. If so, everyone would be millionaires. Instead, people are fearful, selfish, love their status so much that they do selfish and impulsive things in the midst of chaos. In the supermarkets, we see it when people fight over toilet paper. In the financial markets, we buy at stock at 10-year lows, but sell it quickly when it drops another 15%, only to see it spike 40% 1 week later.

If you are Christian, remember what you have in Jesus, and ask Him for a double portion of it.

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. (2 Tim 1:7)

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (James 1:5)

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1 Cor 5:14-15)

During these times of great shaking, you might feel regret, sorrow, frustration. You might feel you’ve lost too much money and feel condemned.

I’ve been there.

During the GFC, I was a noob trader and lost 50% of my savings. I felt very condemned.

How could I have lost all that money? I thought.

I decided to seek God’s purpose for my life and went to Seminary. Making money was no longer my goal in life, but how to further God’s kingdom. Along the way, I  researched the market in unique ways I wouldn’t have if I didn’t meet certain people along the way of going to the Seminary.

Fast forward 1 year later, whatever I had left was almost tripled. I could not believe it.

God was faithful when I re-aligned with Him in tangible ways.

Let this be the time you realign your life and ask God what He is doing. Here’s a suggestion:

1) Align yourself with God’s will and not yours. Apologize for living a selfish life, ask God what He is trying to accomplish and actively help that cause.

2) Remember that all of your sins and bad decisions are forgiven!

3) Understand the promises given to all those who are in-Christ.

4) Ask Him for a heart of real courage, to keep fighting, and making right decisions from now on.

5) Ask God for supernatural wisdom that cuts deeper than the hysteria of the masses.

PS: If you are an investor in the US stock market, and need a bit more clarity to what’s going on to formulate a plan going forward, here’s a useful post to read. Instead of focusing on headlines, it goes under the hood of the market to see what insiders are doing and how a trader formulates a plan of investment going forward.