“After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." Genesis 15:1 (NIV)
By Guest Writer Harold Biswas
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| Harold Biswas |
As the media keeps rolling out the news of credit downgrading of the U.S. sovereign debt and implications for the nation, I wonder what lies ahead of us. With about 15 million people still unemployed, where is the bottom?
The credit downgrades is likely to be followed by high cost of borrowing for businesses and consumers which is adding salt to the wounds in hard times such as this. How a Christian should find an assurance? Where they should seek? The IRA and 401(k) funds are experiencing the same fate. Job security is fragile. I heard from a former colleague the other day that “everyone is walking on an egg-shell” at his office. It was just last week that I was spared too, from a massive cut in my company in Canada.
Psalms 107 in v.23 talks about the merchants who went out on the sea in ships on the mighty waters. A storm came, and the sea waves were lifted high. Verse 26 in the same chapter says “they mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away”. Such is the time now, where current situations are akin to the tempest in the ocean. The people are on their wits’ end, staggering and reeling like drunken men (v.27) with job insecurities, depleting household wealth, low savings, high debts, unpaid bills, mortgage delinquencies, etc.
Psalms 107 in v.23 talks about the merchants who went out on the sea in ships on the mighty waters. A storm came, and the sea waves were lifted high. Verse 26 in the same chapter says “they mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away”. Such is the time now, where current situations are akin to the tempest in the ocean. The people are on their wits’ end, staggering and reeling like drunken men (v.27) with job insecurities, depleting household wealth, low savings, high debts, unpaid bills, mortgage delinquencies, etc.
As fathers, husbands or women who are bread-winners for our families how are we to respond to this crisis? Are we acting alone the same way as the World behaves? Frantically trying to find a solution, or losing our mind and blaming each other in the family?
Psalm 107: v 28-30 “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and He guided them to their desired haven.” All of us are looking for a safe haven now. As Christian leaders we are to guide and shepherd our people to seek the Lord fervently. It is going to be Him only, only He who can bring us to our safe haven and helps us reaches the shore that we see now from far.
What is our primary reward in this World? Is it our wealth, regular income, home equities, retirement savings? When God was making a covenant with Abraham, he received as benefits silver, gold, wealth, livestock, etc. (Gen 13:2). The Lord in Genesis 15:7 also explicitly expressed that Abraham was brought out of his homeland to give this vast land to take possession of it. Sure, these are the rewards from God, but they are all secondary in life.
God wants us to dwell on the thoughts of our primary reward that is not the wealth or possessions. Gen: 15, v.1 “the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." While promising lands, possessions and other benefits of covenantal promises, God wanted Abraham not to forget what his primary reward going to be ultimately. The practical assurance in this life comes from the primary reward, it is the primary reward that gives the security, safe haven, it is the primary reward that quiets down the stormy seas, that guides us in this turmoil, it is GOD Himself as our very great reward!
Never lose the sight of the fact in good times that it is He, He only is our very great reward, and everything else is secondary to that. He is our shield, who protects us. In Him, as Christian leaders our trust should abide and in whom we should always seek refuge. This statement has never been truer when I realized just last week in my own work-place that many will return homes that evening jobless.
As Christian leaders, are we sufficiently anchoring our safety into our primary reward, our very great reward?
Harold Biswas
Quebec, Canada
Quebec, Canada
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