As A Spiritual Leader How Will You React And Respond When The Economic And Financial Crisis Rages?

As A Spiritual Leader How Will You React And Respond When The Economic And Financial Crisis Rages

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We are very much aware of the economic and financial storm that is about to hit the UK and Europe and America. Appalling financial management and irresponsible debt and greed and selfishness are the contributory factors. The problem is basically spiritual rather than economic but because some people are afraid to use the name of God and call upon God for help we calls the problem as economic!

There was a storm on the Sea of Galilee and the disciples of Jesus Christ are in the middle of the fierce raging storm, and they are on the brink of drowning and Jesus Christ goes walking to them across the crashing waters.

Take time to read of what actually happened. We find this incident in Matthew Chapter 14. I have been reading it and studying it and learning many lessons from these verses.

His men are in great and immense danger and Jesus goes to them in their very real need! Jesus Christ is able to meet our needs no matter what storm is raging!

But when they saw Him, they thought He was a ghost. They were terrified and scared and started screaming in fear. At once Jesus said to them, `Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid.'

He ministers to us in spite of our misunderstandings. They did not know what was happening. They looked out and thought He was a ghost. They were scared. Now, they were even more scared. They do not have a grasp and an understanding of the situation, and Jesus says, "Do not be afraid."

Here is one lesson that each of us needs to learn. Nowhere in the Word of God does it tell you, as a believer, that you should understand everything.

People can feel guilty because they say, "I am going through this terrible storm in my life, and I do not know what's happening to me. There must be something wrong with me. My life is just a mess and I cannot work all this out and I must have done something wrong in the eyes of God." That may or may not be true!

There are things in this life that we are never going to work out.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we are going to know everything. In fact, one of my great heroes, Paul said, "We look through a glass darkly." We look through a smoky glass. Things are very often unclear!

Our security is not what we know in our mind. Our significance is not what we know. Our security is in Who we know. We can be in the middle of a storm, and we say, "I do not understand it. I don't like it. Is this fair that I should go through all this?

This is when we need to know who is sovereign over all the storms of life!

We can be just like Job, in the Old Testament. He was not a prosperity preacher. He had more sense. He said, "The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."

Job, do you like the ash heap and everything that is happening to you? Absolutely not! Do you like the boils? No! Do you like your wife coming and saying, "Curse God and die? No! But the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

All Job is saying is, "I do not understand it. Probably I do not think it is right or fair. Certainly I do not like it. But I know who's in control."

God ministers to us in spite of our misunderstandings.

God ministers to us in spite of our fears.

The disciples have seen Jesus do some wonderful things, but they had never seen Jesus minister to them at the darkest, most difficult hour.

This is a time for disciples of Jesus Christ who are committed to serving Him to pray in a new and deeper and fuller way.

Pray for the leadership around you. Pray for those working in Downing Street, London, and in The White House, in Washington, D.C.

If our leaders could grasp something of the serious situation facing our nations and understand something of the help available if only they would bow the knee and humbly but courageously ask Almighty God through Jesus Christ for mercy and guidance and direction. Our God is so gracious and tender and understanding He hears the prayers of His people.

How are we all going to react and respond and behave when this raging storm really hits us? This is not a theoretical question. It is already happening.

When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down and the men in the boat worshipped Jesus and they said, "Truly, You are the Son of God.'

The storms of life are real and they reveal so much about us.

They also teach about what faith is all about. Hold on. Pray. Look for His coming!

Sandy Shaw

Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary athttp://www.studylight.org entitled "Word from Scotland" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.

His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.

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