Things You Will Never Hear in Polite Conversation
Tom Shrader challenges conventional wisdom about facing an uncertain economic future, systematically exposing how our typical strategies—making plans, securing assets, building networks, polishing resumes, and leveraging positions—are ultimately unreliable as Job 8 warns. Drawing from Job's catastrophic losses and other biblical examples, he calls believers to maintain confidence not in worldly securities but in God alone, even when facing attacks, deficiencies, disasters, shortages, and overwhelming odds. The teaching concludes with practical directives for demonstrating this divine reliance through godly character, integrity, generosity, and faithful giving of time and resources.
“You are weak and that's the rule, that's the way you are—you're not a strong person.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: How to Stay Afloat in a World That's Circling the Drain (2002)
Recorded: 2002
Duration: 45 min
Themes: uncertainty, trust, security, planning, suffering, confidence, provision, faithfulness, facing economic uncertainty, job insecurity, financial struggles, career transitions, retirement planning, business owners, middle aged adults, heads of household
Scripture: Job 8:13-15, Job 1:1-3, James 4:13-14, Proverbs 11:28, Jeremiah 17:5, Philippians 3:3-4, Psalm 27:1-3, Psalm 33:17, Proverbs 3:25, Jeremiah 17:7-8, Psalm 91:1-2, Psalm 91:7
Theological Themes: providence, divine sovereignty, stewardship, biblical wisdom, trusting god, worldly security, faithful giving, godly character
Full Transcript
Things You Will Never Hear in Polite Conversation
This is part of a series that has eight or nine, maybe ten sessions to it. We can't get through them all before summer break, so I'm picking and choosing what we're going to look at. I thought we'd skip this one, but then the more I looked at it, I see how this really sets up all of the other lessons. So we're not going to skip it.
The outline you have in front of you has no blanks on it. They are all filled in, so you should be able to just follow along. What we've titled this is "Things You Will Never Hear in Polite Conversation." You can relax - we are not going to be crude and rude to you. But what we are going to do is try to go at some depth in terms of conversation, maybe deeper than you'd get in a normal conversational flow.
Most conversations, I think, stay pretty surface. And I'm frankly comfortable with that. I'm a very superficial guy who's in denial, and I find it to be helpful.
A Story About Depth in Conversation
So I was in a restaurant years ago, and these eighteen people - eighteen because I counted them - eighteen old people came in. Old. And they were somewhere between, I would guess, eighty and infinity and closer to infinity than eighty, it looked like to me. Old people.
And they sat down. We were in the back room where I used to hang out, and so they came in and the waitress came up and they did the separate checks and all this stuff. And they're talking about SRP. They're doing all this stuff. And there's a little old lady in the middle who - you know her, even though you've never met her - she is the classic stereotypical little old lady.
And they're talking about SRP, APS, water bills, everything. There's a little lull. And this lady says, in this voice that you could hear for miles around, "Does anybody here know how to make a Harvey Wallbanger?" And then they argued about why booze is so expensive. And away they went. But that was the depth. That was about as deep as that conversation got.
I want to do a little bit more than that today.
Our Approach Today
Grab your outline and let me just give you a preview. And then we'll go through it fairly quickly, really. We'll take forty-five minutes or so as we work our way through it.
There's some assumptions that we make, and I'm going to go through each one of those with you. And they all deal as we look to the future. How to stay afloat in a world that's circling the drain. We're looking to the future in the midst of this.
There's some conventional wisdom that we would use that would deal with a typical approach to the future, especially an uncertain future. What I want you to see, and we'll spend some time on it, are the fallacies of that approach. And I'm not saying don't do those. I'm just saying they're not totally reliable.
Then we're just going to admonish you, encourage you to be confident in spite of all this. And then some requirement things we'll talk about on the way out.
First Assumption: Economic Instability
Here's the first thing. By way of assumptions, the economic future is unstable - is the word I would use. We're at a time when things appear to be very, very unstable. This market seems to be struggling to find itself. It's up two hundred one day, down two hundred the next. Doesn't seem to be any consensus on what to do.
There are some who suggest that the standard of living for this generation that's being born now will be lower than the standard of living than their predecessors. And that'll be the first time in the history of the country that that's been the case. Don't know if that's true or not. But certainly it's an unstable situation.
Second Assumption: There Will Be Casualties
The second thing is that there's probably going to be some people, and you may be one of them, that are going to get devastated in this. I forgot to tell you, this is not an upbeat lesson today. There'll be carnage.
I was watching one of those old Civil War shows. And they were saying that in 1865, which is the first year after the end of the Civil War, that in the state of Louisiana's budget for that year, twenty percent of it was spent on artificial limbs. That the carnage had been so horrific. As you watch, there'd be battles that they would fight. And sometimes they'd just stop the carnage so bad. And they'd just declare peace just long enough to bring bodies in and hope that the rain would wash away the blood.
And there'll be some of that in our world.
What We Need Moving Forward
We need, because we're facing the future, reliable as we can get information. You're going to have to make a lot of decisions. So what you want is information that's true and it's reliable. You want to make the best decision you can. You need the best information you can.
You need probably some new strategies. That's certainly what people are saying. If you go into the bookstore, you'll see strategies for the new millennium, strategy, leadership strategies for the new millennium. Kind of the idea that the old stuff doesn't work anymore and everything needs to be new. That's what we're going to talk about in the next few weeks. Financial strategies, career strategies, relational strategies, family strategies, even spiritual strategies.
The Need for Action
And then the last thing is you need to be proactive in this. As things are changing, you need to move. It's not enough to just talk about it.
I was talking to somebody the other day and they said that they're now eating correctly and they're working out. I said, "Really, what are you eating?" And they said, "Well, I've got this cookbook, this health food cookbook." I said, "Well, what are you making? What are you eating?" "Well, I really haven't made anything yet." I said, "Really? And where are you working out?" "Well, I got a membership at the 24 Hour Fitness." I said, "That's great. How often do you go?" "Well, I haven't really gone yet."
So it's good to eat correctly or at least get some books about it. But getting books and tapes is not the same as doing it. You have to be proactive in this process.
Conventional Wisdom Says...
Conventional wisdom says this: get a plan. Devise a plan. Get a hold of that plan. Plan your work and work your plan. Then secure your assets. This is the time, if there ever was, to cover your assets. Now, the problem with that secure your...
Conventional Wisdom for Uncertain Times
Asset management assumes that you have assets. But if you have them, secure them. Don't lose them. And it's all sorts of options. I saw one year CD yesterday was at 2.36% or something like that. So do I take the 2.63% or do I buy more of this Tyco stuff? I mean, what is it I do here? Do I lose 50% or do I make 2% or what do I do? 2% is almost an insult. People are used to that 17, 18% return. What do you do?
Third, identify your network. If it's going to be a little bit uncertain, you better figure out who's going to be able to help you in this process. Who are your friends, who can you count on, who's reliable? It's helpful because you never know where opportunities are going to come to keep that resume updated. Some of you are really smart and you've got it on the word processor and the only thing missing is the termination date of this particular endeavor you're involved in right now so that you can now be a consultant.
The fifth thing is to use your position. If you're really smart, you're always planning the next move anyway. You're always two, three plays ahead. So as things begin to unfold, you want to be using what you've got now to prepare for that.
A Common Fallacy
Job writes this in Job chapter 8: "Such is the destiny of all who forget God. So perishes the hope of the godless. What man trusts in is fragile. What he relies on is a spider's web. He leans on his web, but it gives way. He clings to it, but it doesn't hold."
Those are some ominous words. Looking at this world, what man trusts is very, very fragile. And He uses the analogy of if it's similar to a spider's web. You lean on it, and it doesn't hold. It gives way. We cling to it, and it won't hold us. Job knew what He was talking about.
Job's Background
Let me give you a little background on Job. Certainly heard about Job before anyway. Job chapter 1, verse 1 just tells us there was a man in the land, and his name was Job. He was blameless and upright and fearing God and turning away from evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. And his possessions were 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants. And He was the greatest of all men.
Satan comes to God and said, "Why wouldn't Job follow you?" Now obviously, Job doesn't know all this is going on. God says, "All right, have at him." That's why we say to you, by the way, that when adversity comes into your life, you need to understand that it's either caused by or permitted by God.
Job's Terrible Day
So here's what happens. Many of you, again, maybe never even heard the Scripture or read the Scripture, looked at it, but you know about the patience of Job. Here's Job. You've had bad days. Listen to this.
"It happened on the day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking their wine in the oldest brother's house that a messenger came to Job and said, 'The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabines attacked them and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.'"
"While he was still speaking, another came and said, 'The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone escaped to tell you.'"
"While he was still talking, another came in and said, 'The Chaldeans formed three bands and made raids on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of their sword, and I alone escaped to tell you.'"
"While he was still talking, another also came and said, 'Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone escaped to tell you.'"
These are not good things. It's right about at this time where somebody's saying, "Well, at least you have your health, Job." And he gets boils from head to toe, and his wife, his helpmate, says to him, "Curse God and die."
Job's Perspective on Security
So here's Job. He's lost everything that he wanted to keep and probably still has the one thing he'd love to lose, which is his wife. Job knows what He's talking about. Job's a guy who had it all, and Job is no different than you.
If you had the equivalent of this fortune that he had and this great blessing that he had, if you had those financial resources in place and the security that you attached to them and this magnificent family that's all intact, you feel very, very, very secure in that. There's a sense that all is well. It doesn't take long when all is well for you to begin to think, "And it should be because I deserve it."
Now, listen to what Job wrote: "What a man trusts in is fragile. What he relies on is a spider's web. He leans in the web, but it gives way. He clings to it, but it doesn't hold."
Conventional wisdom says, get your plans in place and your assets and your network and your resume and your position. Job says, that's not going to work.
Your Plans Are Not Reliable
You got your outlines. Let's work our way through them. Number one, your plans are not reliable. Let me give you the Scripture references for them. James chapter 4, verse 13 and 14: "Now, listen, you say, 'Today or tomorrow, we'll go to this or that city and spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' What you do not know is what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist." One of the translations says, "You are a vapor that appears for a while and then vanishes."
I'm not saying, and you know that, we're not saying don't make plans. You ought to be a planner. You ought to have your dreams. You ought to look into the future. And when I say, "What do you want to be doing in 10 or 15 or 20 years?" you ought to have an answer to that. But those plans are unreliable.
I said yesterday when I taught this lesson, "Go back and grab your 10-year plan from 1995 and look on and see how it's coming to pass." And a guy came up to me. He's with one of the largest insurance companies in the country. And he said, "I'll tell you my plan for..."
At the beginning of the year, an insurance agent told me his company said they could not write more than 10 new car policies a month. He said their plan was to grow the business, but they couldn't grow the business this year. You can plan and plan and plan and plan and be diligent in that planning. And yet life is a vapor. It's as simple as pulling out here onto Central Avenue and here comes somebody who doesn't care or they're distracted and they put their car into yours and your plans for today and for the future are changed radically.
Your Assets Are Unreliable
Your assets are unreliable. I think you understand this. Proverbs 11:28 says, "Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf." Whoever trusts in his riches—and that's the natural tendency. Godliness plus contentment equals great gain. We have food and clothing; with those we should be content. Paul says, "Warn those who are rich in this present world not to put their faith and trust in this, but to trust in God." The natural tendency is to trust the stuff of this world.
We had a guy in one of our studies who came in and had 2.5 million dollars in cash. No taxes, nothing. Sitting in his jeans, 2.5 million dollars, plus other assets. That's when he started coming to the study. A year later, he had less than zero. Not zero, less than zero. He'd been through the 2.5 million. He'd been through the assets. And he now had debt that exceeded anything he could possibly pay because he talked about how cocky and confident he was with that cash and how he felt very free to just trust it, as though that was going to last forever and he couldn't do anything wrong with it.
Those assets that you have are like a greased pig—you squeeze them and they're gone. Jeremiah 17:5 says, "This is what the Lord said: Cursed is the one who trusts in men, who depends on flesh for his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wasteland. He will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in the salt land where nobody lives." This guy is in Gila Bend right here. This guy is in the parched lands.
Your Resume Is Unreliable
True story. I'm in this study, this study right here, when we were down at the women's club one day and this guy came up and said, "How are you doing?" I said, "Fine, how are you doing?" He said, "This is the darkest day of my life." He had a very large visible company. He said, "This whole thing is going to come crashing down right now. I'm on my way to file bankruptcy and protect myself and my family. It's all over." I said, "Well, that's too bad. That's awful." He left. He goes over here, sits down.
Another guy comes up and said, "Can you do me a favor?" And I said, "Sure, if I can, I will." He said, "Can you introduce me to that guy?" And he points to the guy that had just talked to me. And I said, "OK, what are you thinking?" He said, "Well, I just figured that you could hook me up with him because you could introduce me to him. And I just figured I'd network my way in because he's got a great company. I know it's a terrific company. I'd like to go to work for it. I think I'd be good for him and he could be good for me, too." I said, "Well, you know what? We had to wait a week or so before we make the introduction."
But isn't that where we go? You go, "I know so and so, and he knows this guy." Let me read it again. "This is what the Lord said: Cursed is the one who depends and trusts on man." Cursed is the idea of being in real trouble. It's the opposite of blessing.
Here you go. Your resume is unreliable. Philippians chapter three, verses three and four: "For it is we who..." And this is Paul writing. Paul—and I need to spend a second on Paul. Paul's one of these extraordinary men. I think we do a great disservice because we have a tendency to think that these ancient guys were somehow archaic and not very bright.
There's a book called *The Hundred Most Influential People of All Time*. It's not written by a Christian or anybody even interested in theology or religion. His top six people of all time—we might have talked about it in here before. Top six people of all time: Muhammad is one, Isaac Newton is two, Jesus is three, Buddha is four, Confucius five, Paul six. So you're dealing here when you're talking about Paul—you're dealing about a major mindset here. Major guy.
He said, "For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, who put no confidence in the flesh." When we talk about the flesh here, he's talking about not just his flesh and bones, but he's talking about this world and the things of this world. In this case, he's talking about himself. He's talking about himself as it relates to salvation.
"So I myself have many reasons for confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more. I've done a lot of stuff. I was circumcised on the eighth day." He had nothing to do with that—it just simply means he was from a godly family. And it goes on and on and on and on and on. He was the Pharisee of the Pharisees. He said, "Listen, you don't put confidence in this world, in this stuff."
The Danger of Trusting Appearances
I watched a show the other day on cosmetic surgery, and it was talking about this huge increase of men who are taking and having done to themselves cosmetic surgery to improve the way they look. And I'm not condemning that. I'm going to have my eyes done, but it's strictly medical. They're just drooping and it's starting to need to be tucked. If you look real closely, you can see how I need it.
So they're talking to this guy, and he's a big guy. He's a sales guy. He's got his braces, and he's the salesman. He's out in the slums. I just—on TV, even watching him on TV, I found myself grabbing my wallet. And he said, "I'm going to get my nose fixed. I've got to get my nose fixed." Because—and the guy talks like a bumper sticker—"There was no second chance to make a first impression."
And so he's going to get his nose fixed. So they go in and he gets his nose fixed. I'm telling you afterwards, I couldn't tell the difference. But he said, "I have such confidence now. I'm ready to tackle the world." Confidence in his new nose. That's going to put him over the top. And that's what I hear all the time.
You all know that I have this fascination with Richard Simmons. Richard Simmons just fascinates the snot out of me. And I watch him any time I can watch him. I watch the same old thing. It is amazing to me that three million people buy the food mover. I just think, wow, there's got to be hope for me. What a great country we live in.
Here we go. The food mover. Not the last infomercial, but the one before it. He would go and visit people. Obviously, this is all set up, but he would go and visit people. He came up to this one gal's house and she came to the door and she just started to cry and shake. And it sounds like I'm making fun of that. I am not at all. You need to know something about Richard Simmons. I like the guy. I find him fascinating because I think he has nothing to do with salvation. But I think he does give people some level of assistance here.
This gal sat down. She had lost three hundred and seventy eight pounds. That's Muhammad Ali and me. She lost the two of us. He fought at 212. She lost the two of us. She was really moved. Here's what she said here. Richard said, "What difference does this make in your life? How has this made a difference?" He pulls his shorts down. Why does he dress like that? That's the part that bothers me. That's what I don't get because I like him. I just need to work with him a little bit.
But she said, He said, "What difference has this made in your life?" And that's always the payoff question. She said, "I have now such confidence that I didn't have before." See, we have a tendency humanly to put our confidence in something human. The way we look. Who we know, our resume. You know, graduated from here, graduated from here, graduated from here. Well, you can start right over there and all you need to be able to do is start right over there. All you need to be able to say is "paper or plastic," you'll do just fine. That degree doesn't guarantee anything.
Trusting Your Position Won't Save You
Here's the fifth thing. You tend to trust your position. What I love is there's some of you saying, "Oh, I'm glad Tom's doing this. This will be very helpful for some of these people in sales. You know, they'll need this in rocky times. I'm in management." Let me help you out. Management is a euphemism for dead wood. When they say we're going to cut dead wood, let's go to there. That would be the manager. You're not safe anywhere. That's the whole point.
I don't know if you've ever been fired. I assume most of you at some point in your life have been fired. I have been twice. And it wasn't downsized. Yours may have been. I was downsized. I was fired. I was working for Motorola here in a CME division, which I don't even know if they have it anymore. But the Motorola products, you used to be able only buy them from Motorola. So you couldn't buy a Motorola phone except from Motorola. These are the old days. This is 75, 78.
I did pretty well here and they transferred me to Pueblo, Colorado. And it gets no worse than that. I took over a territory where the guy before me, when we went to get his company car, was on blocks. He'd sold it for parts. So this was a tough place. I think I had three sales guys who between them had like eight teeth. It was bleak. I don't know how to say this, it was just bleak. Nothing was working.
I came from the number one region in the country. Where we dotted every i, we crossed every t. I was out there a year. At the end of the year, I had taken these three guys and their quota was over quota, hired a couple of new guys, one just killing it, a couple other guys. It was incredible.
The Shock of Unexpected Loss
The last Friday of December was always Black Friday at Motorola. You knew the call was coming, so I knew they'd call and I figured they'd be looking for somebody, but they caught me off guard. They called me, said El Segundo wants two guys gone. I said, "Well, that ain't going to happen. I got four or five guys, six guys, seven guys, I don't know what they are. Well, we have four or five guys that are absolutely making it. We got another two guys that are right there. I got one guy that I think if you just give him a year, he'll be great. He could go, but give him a year."
And he said, "Well, that's one." They said, "Well, then we got two." I said, "Really, what two?" And he said, "Him and you."
I said, "You know what? I was wrong. All five of these guys are shaky. They could all go, but none of them are going to make it." I was absolutely devastated. I don't know if you've ever been through anything like that and you always hear how you knew it was coming. I had no idea. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I had not the slightest inclination that this was going to happen. If you'd have said to me, "Here's eight guys in your area, one of them is going to go and you gave me seven guesses," I'd have never got to me.
Here you go, whether it's your plans or your assets or your network or your resume or your position, they're all unreliable.
Maintaining Confidence Despite the Odds
Here's what we're going to ask you to do. Grab that outline and take a look, because I want you to see this. This is really important. We want you to maintain confidence. Despite—and those three words are at the beginning of all five of these points—we're going to ask you to maintain confidence despite attacks and deficiencies and disasters and shortage and despite the odds.
Here's what I want you to see. We're not saying maintain confidence because there
One of the great things about the Christian faith is that it acknowledges there are difficulties ahead. I am writing right now what I want to say at the wedding, and one of the things I always talk about are the vows: for better, for worse, for richer, for poor, in sickness and in health. What I love about the vows is they acknowledge difficulties - rich, poor, sick, ill. They acknowledge that's going to happen.
The Christian faith does not say there's not going to be attacks and there's not going to be deficiencies. It says they're common, but you be confident. Confident in what? Well, here's what we know. It can't be confident in your plans, your assets, your network, your resume, your positions. We've already done away with those. Our confidence is in the Lord. We are in Him.
Maintaining Confidence Despite Attacks
Maintain confidence despite attacks. Psalm 27, verse one through three: "The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom should I fear? The Lord is my stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they'll stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fail. The war break out against me. Even then, I will be confident."
I had not been a Christian very long when I had somebody say to me, "Tom, I'm glad this happened for you. I'm glad this works for you. Your Christianity, however, is a crutch." Have you ever heard that phrase? Your Christianity is a crutch.
I happened to be home and I was writing that night. There was my dictionary and I looked up crutch and it said that it was an instrument to help the lame and infirm to walk. It was a wooden instrument with a crossbar for the lame and the infirm to lean on when they walked. And I thought, you know what? Christianity is a crutch. That's exactly what it is. We always say that it's a pejorative, but every guy that says that to me has this huge crutch in His life somewhere. It may be His money. It may be drugs. It may be booze. It may be girls, maybe something. But He's got a crutch, something He's leaning on. Everybody's got it. Our crutch is to lean on Christ, to trust in Him. And it's not a sign of weakness in a negative sense. It's a sign of weakness in the positive way. You are weak.
The Message of Christianity
We had this discussion at camp and we were talking about athletics. Do you let children and students participate in athletics? I'm sure your answer right off the top is yes. But we were talking about how athletics constantly gives the message: you can do it, you can do it, you can do it. Here's the message of Christianity: you can't do it.
You can't do it. That's the whole thing - we can't. You can't measure up. You can't go it alone. Can't do it. That's why you're discouraged. That's why you're here. You don't know Christ. Somebody got you here. Somebody brought you here, told you they were going to take you to a positive, inspirational meeting, or they just said they'd buy you lunch, whatever it was.
You're in here and you're going, "What a bunch of hooey this is. I don't buy any of this." And yet, as you're driving away, you're going to have to stop and say, "You know what? He's right. I am miserable. And the more I succeed, the more empty I am. The more stuff I got, the more I feel empty."
The Endless Game
It's interesting to me that Shaq's saying, "I don't know if I want another year of this." Why would He? Why would you go out and beat yourself to get another ring? So you're going to get this ring and now you got four of these rings. You know what they're going to say? Why don't you have five? And if you get five, do you understand there's never an end to any of this?
If your life is found in making quota and getting the deal closed, do you understand that shortly, January 1 of 2003, you're all at zero again? Do you understand that this is a stupid game you're playing that has no finish line? You wonder why you're miserable? How could you be happy? We're going to do this promotion. Here we go. We're number one. Yeah, we did it. Now we're all starting all over again. What is the point of this?
If that's where you find your strokes, my friend, you're in real serious trouble. And as long as you want to live this way, you will be miserable. You will go from job to job to job or deal to deal to deal or gal to gal to gal or guy to guy to guy. House to house to house, always looking for that thing. That's what all these sales tapes and all this - this is the tape, this is the book. There's only one book, and that's that Bible that's ever going to be used by you to be fulfilled. That's it.
Maintaining Confidence Despite Deficiencies
Maintain confidence despite attacks. They're coming. Maintain confidence despite deficiencies. "A horse," Psalm 33, verse 17, "a horse is a vain hope for deliverance. Despite all its strength, it cannot save you." That's what they were counting on, that horse to get them out of there.
In AA - and I was never in AA - but I know that they had this thing called the geographical cure. When there was a problem that somebody would have, they'd have a problem in Walcott, Iowa. So they'd move to Minneapolis because somehow it was going to be better in Minneapolis. They get to Minneapolis and say, "Man, it's cold here." So they'd say, "I'm going to Joplin, Missouri." They get to Joplin and they go, "It's humid here. So let's go somewhere else." Now they come to Phoenix and they go here and there and they're miserable. The reason is very simple: the source of their problem is moving with them each time.
It's them looking for all these things. There's going to be deficiencies. Don't run away from them. Maintain confidence despite disasters.
Have no fear, Proverbs 3:25. Have no fear of sudden disaster or of ruin that overtakes the wicked. For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared. Disaster coming? Doesn't it feel like it? Maybe it's only me. And this has to be affecting the economy and everything. Doesn't it feel like there's this cloud that's looming that's just ready to explode again?
Isn't that what they're telling you? Get ready for another September 11th. I saw the paper this morning. They're trying to tighten everything up for July 4th. Are we just going to tighten this up? There's no end to this. These guys don't have to do anything for another four or five years because you've got everything tightened up. And if they don't do anything for four or five years and you start to loosen up, then all they need to do is strike.
I don't have the courage like these terrorists or cowards. These terrorists are pretty brave guys, I think. I cannot fathom sitting in the front of that plane and flying this baby into this building. That'd take more guts than I've got. I'll be honest with you. I thought about that that day. Man, that had to be incredible. You're flying this thing right into that building and you can sit and see it coming.
Here's the kind of terrorist I'd be. I would just go up to northern Arizona and just start lighting this thing on fire. I don't think these guys need any nuclear weapons or anything. You could light all of this state and the one next to us in the north. You could light them all on fire like that.
Maintaining Confidence Despite Shortages
Maintain confidence despite shortages. Blessed is the man who puts his trust in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He has no worries in the year of drought, never fails to produce and bear fruit.
Sometimes it feels like there are overwhelming odds. Listen to this, Psalm 91. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. That's a great phrase, that shadow, that relief that we come to, the protection.
We were in San Diego for summer camp. I don't know if you've been to San Diego lately, but we were there for four or five days. No clouds. And it was 65 to 70 degrees. It was incredible. We left Monday morning about 6:45, seven o'clock. And it was covered, kind of the fog and the cover. Absolutely beautiful.
We got in the car. We did not stop until the McDonald's in Helendale. We got out of the car and I found myself gravitating toward the shade. And I've been studying while I was over there, this verse. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, He is my refuge and my strength, my God in whom I trust. A thousand may fall at my side, ten thousand at my right hand. But this will never come near me.
Practical Steps for Uncertain Times
Here's what we suggest to you. There are a couple of things that you need to do. Number one, recognize real authority in your life. Real authority is not human authority, although it has a role in your life. It's very clear to us that God has put authority figures in our life.
We as Christians, those of us who are Christians, should be the best citizens in the country. We submit to the government. God has a role in the family. Husbands love your wives. Wives submit to your husbands. Children obey your parents. He has a role at work. Masters love your slaves. Slaves obey your masters. And then at church, elders and church members submit to your elders. There's authority, but the real authority comes from Him. Scripture says, why would you fear man? All they can do is kill you. But I have control of you after life.
Here's the second thing. Follow biblical directives. In other words, be obedient. Sometimes when things get tight, we can become so focused on these issues that we forget the simplest thing. God wants you to be obedient.
It ties into the third one, demonstrating godly character. If you're a Christian, it will make a difference in your life. If you say Jesus Christ is your Lord and your Savior, if you say that, I believe in Jesus, then it must transform your life. If it doesn't transform your life, I don't think you have any biblical assurance that you're a Christian or not. Maybe, but the one thing that the Scripture teaches us over and over again is that if we say we believe, our life will change. That belief doesn't generate our salvation. It just gives evidence of it. If you say you're a Christian, it will be different. Demonstrate that when business gets tough. Demonstrate that when business gets tight. You're reliable.
Exhibit sensitive generosity. There are those around you who are in tough times, who are hurting, and you have plenty to help them. Plenty of time, plenty of energy. Help them.
The Importance of Consistent Integrity
Maintain consistent integrity. This is a copy. I came across it the other day. I have it in a place where I see it about every three months. This is a copy of a statement that was released by President Clinton right before he left office. It was part of his deal that he reached with Robert Ray, who was the independent counsel. And by releasing this, this was part of his way of avoiding indictment after leaving office in the Monica Lewinsky affair.
It's probably 250 words long. It's not very long. There's a sentence in here that just makes me laugh. I forget at times what a joke this guy is, how pathetic a human being he is. Listen to this sentence. I tried to walk a line between acting lawfully and testifying falsely, but I now recognize that I did not fully accomplish this goal.
I didn't write this. He wrote it. Let me read it to you so you can comprehend it. Imagine sitting down. Here you go. Here's how you can see how pathetic he is. Imagine sitting down with your 10-year-old and telling him this. I tried to walk a line between acting lawfully and testifying falsely, but I now recognize that I did not fully accomplish this goal.
I did not fully accomplish this goal. You get up in the morning and you have a goal to close a deal or to make quota. His goal, self-declared - I didn't make it up. I assume this will be in that memoir that he got $9 million to write. His goal was to act lawfully and testify falsely. I'm not kidding here. You wouldn't hire a guy who said that to manage a fast food restaurant. That's just totally dishonest. That is a joke.
Boy, as things get tough, you maintain consistent integrity. You do what's right because it's right. You don't flinch. In a world that shades the truth constantly, in a world that says that it depends on what the definition of "is" is, in that world, you stand up, you let Him hear what you say, you tell the truth, and away you go.
Divine Reliance in Difficult Times
You manifest divine reliance. You're dependent upon Him. You can't take another breath without God. I believe that God saves you. If you're a Christian today, it's not because you made a decision for Christ. It's because God put in your heart the desire to make that decision and He saved you from beginning to end. Salvation is entirely a work of God.
But God uses difficult times in our lives. For whatever reason. Somebody has suggested that 80% of the people who come to Christ, who acknowledge Him, who believe in Him, come in times of adversity. If you're in the midst of adversity or going into adversity, or you have people around you who are in the midst of adversity, you understand - here you go, this is a target rich environment. People listen during times of adversity. They see how weak they are.
You are not weak, and that's the exception. You are weak and that's the rule. That's the way you are. You're not a strong person. You're a sinful person, as a non-Christian. You're a sinful person who cannot please a holy God. And yet God, when you deserve death, gave you life.
Continual Faithful Giving
Here you go, last point. Continual faithful giving. That's got nothing to do with money, although that, I guess, may be part of it. It means time, energy, resources. What are you going to give your life to?
I said this to the kids at camp, and I think it's true. I told them, because they meet on Saturday night. I told them that I don't think it matters whether it's soccer, basketball, music, work. I don't think it matters what it is. Nothing is more important than them being there on Saturday night.
I find a lot of people who say, "You know what, I've got this job, and this job has me so busy that I can't be part of what's going on at church." I know you don't want to hear this, and I know you're not going to listen anyway, but I'd quit the job. You've got this job that's going to transfer you to Toledo. You've got all these roots here, God's growing you here, but you're taking it. Why? Because it's part of going up the corporate ladder. Let me help you. Going up the corporate ladder is too high. It's too expensive.
See, this is more important than anything else. More important than anything else that you're doing. I'm not saying you can't succeed - you know that. I'm not saying you don't participate. I'm just saying, look, you've got this kid. This kid's a 14-year-old kid playing basketball who thinks he's going to be Michael Jordan. He isn't going to be Michael Jordan. He's probably not going to play in high school. If he does, he's probably not going to play major college basketball. He's going to go to some little dinky school, and then when he's half done with it, he's going to quit. And he's given up all of that influence that he could have, and that influence on his life.
Nothing's more important than this stuff. The world's changing, and the tendency is to come up with new, fast ways. Let me tell you, it's the old tried and true proven ways. It'll ultimately pay off. Let's look at it. We'll look at them as we get back together again.
Father, help us see this truth. God, thank You for these words. Help us understand that we need to fight this temptation to trust our plans and our assets and our network and our resume and our job. And God, we maintain confidence despite all that comes at us because of how great a God You are. God, we rely on You and You alone. Thank You, Father, for saving us. Thank You for not giving us what we deserve. We are open.