Day 35 "Protection from Fear and Panic"

All is well when the market is going up. But when the market begins to drop, and we start losing money, panic begins to set in. College funding, retirement, buying a new house, travel plans, all are at risk of not happening. Ever wonder why the market falls faster than it goes up? Why it take 3 to 6 months for the market to move upward to a certain point only to lose it in 1-2 weeks? The reason is that fear is a greater motivator than greed.

The one thing that the stock market dislikes is uncertainty. Today, with the Coronavirus spreading unabated, uncertainty is spreading rampantly across the world like an unwanted cancer increasing its negative affect on everything it touches. The stock market, too, without exception. How do financial planners and investment advisers try to help their clients weather the storm? Mostly, their advice is to not panic and take the longer view approach to investing. (Except when a client's interest is short term) For the most part, history has shown that a buy and hold mentality, buying quality investments, has worked well over the long term. This, too, is not a guarantee that you will be successful, though, as all written material and interaction with the public pertaining investment information provides disclosure that past history is no guarantee for future success. Risk still remains, hence, the expression: No risk, no return. But the longer one has to meet one's investment needs, the less impact the day to day changes have upon us.

But as we navigate our way through life, we encounter a variety of obstacles and challenges that stir up fear and uncertainty within us, taking away our peace and joy. To think that we can go through life and never experience fear and uncertainty may be a little naive. But God wanted us to have the ability to still have inner peace and joy despite or circumstances by depending on him.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27

When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, God's Holy Spirit is deposited and placed within us to guide and encourage us:

"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom

the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." John 14:25-26

"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of

truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me." John 15:26-27

"Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict (Notice it doesn't say condemn!) the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement." John 16:7-8

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth." John 16:13

"And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Romans 5:5

I was having lunch one day with my very good friend, Larry. We were discussing spiritual things when, suddenly, I remarked, "That's it!" To which Larry responded, "What's it?" I began to share with Larry what I felt the Holy Spirit just made known to me. It has become my source of peace and calm especially in the midst of my storms. It is a simple illustration but with profound implications which can be shared with anyone at anytime.

If you are looking for peace and joy in your life right now, here is a pathway towards achieving it:

Look at a small object on the wall across from you in a room. Take one of your arms and

stretch it out towards the object. Flex your wrist upward so that the palm of your hand is facing the object. Position you hand so that it blocks the view of the object on the wall from both eyes. The space between the back of your hand and your eyes represents all the cares and concerns that you have in this world. All the things that are important to you and define who you are: your family, your spouse, your job, your home, your health, your finances, your hopes, and your friends. As important to you as they are, all of it is temporary here on Earth and constantly in the process of change. Now, move your hand left or right until one of your eyes can see the object on the wall but the other eye is still blocked from the view. (We used to do this as kids) It gives you the illusion that you are looking through your hand and can see the object on the wall. The space from the object on the wall to your eyes is your eternal perspective. The eternal perspective is permanent, not changing. Here is the all important question: If you were to lose everything that consists of your temporary world- you family, health, finances, etc.- that area represented

from the back of your hand to your eyes, would your eternal perspective be enough to sustain you through the rest of this life? In other words, where are you really placing your trust and what are you basing your life upon? When you arrive at the point where your hope and ultimate purpose for your life is eternally motivated and framed, I believe you will discover that the peace and joy derived from such a point of view will sustain and keep you even in a sea of constant change that you experience here on Earth.

The apostle Paul arrived at such a state of being through the trust and confidence he experienced in and through Jesus Christ.

"...for I have learned to be content in whatever my circumstances. 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. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

Philippians 4:11-13

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus to hold of me." Philippians 3:12

"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one I do: Forget- ting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 3:13-14

"But our citizenship is in heaven." Philippians 3:20

"being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Colossians 1:11-14

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind of things above, not on earthly things." Colossians 3:1-2

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (To be in Christ presence)."

Philippians 1:21

One's peace and joy truly depends on where one places their trust. It is easy to go through life with the "bird in hand" mentality-that which one can see and touch that will help bring comfort and pleasure into their life. But underlying this pursuit will always be an uneasy anxiety caused by the fear of possibly losing what you have accumulated. The more you accumulate, the greater the potential for loss. The greater the loss potential, the greater the fear. Greater than the advice given to take a longer view approach towards your investment to withstands the ups and downs of the stock markets, securing a mindset that continually sees things filtered with an eternal focus will allow one to see this life as temporary and the life to come with Christ eternal. It is knowing that we are loved and accepted unconditionally by God and that He has provided for us a life after this one, that God, by faith, has taken away our fear. The more one grows secure in their faith and belief in the life to come, the less significant this world becomes. Want to live life without fear? Learn to embrace God's perfect love.

"Perfect love casts out all fear." 1 John 4:18

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How you live your life is based on what you really believe.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18

Is it possible to live your life without fear? I believe the apostle Paul would wholeheartedly say, "Yes, in Christ!" See you tomorrow...