Remember Jesus In All Times & Events, Both Good & Bad

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.‘ (1 Corinthians 10:31);  ‘(16) Rejoice always, (17) pray continually, (18) give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.’ (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

The big news recently are the tariffs implemented by the current Administration, sending shockwaves through the US and global markets.  While this is good for the future of the US economy, in the short term will pinch Americans in the wallet.  It is hoped this pinch is short-term as the stock market is based more on the emotions of the impacts than the actual impacts, but the tariffs affect both. 

While there are those that are fearful and expecting an apocalyptical collapse that will exceed the woes of the Great Depression a century ago, it is more likely we fall into a short recession before a global reset of tariffs both from the US and its trading partners, and with manufacturing beginning to return to the US, the economy (and stocks) should great ‘boom’ in the aftermath.

What the economists, pundits, and ‘Wall Street wizards’ never seem to do is to act and discuss these items without overdramatizing their reporting.  Unfortunately, they never make the Spiritual case to stay ‘static’ during the ebbs and flows of the US markets and its economies.  Don’t ever forget the Lord is always involved, in every circumstance – good or bad.  Current events may take us by surprise, but never takes God by surprise.  God never sits on His throne and states, ‘I didn’t see that coming!’.  He knows the past, current, and future occurrence of events and their effects on other events.  It is incumbent on us Christians to lead others to provide the example on how we react to such events.  We need to show not only the love of Christ, but to be even-keel in our approach to such events. 

We are not to scream, ‘DOOM!  Impending DOOM!’ when events go bad, or get extremely ecstatic as things get better and find those ‘doomers’ and scream, ‘YOU’RE WRONG!’ in their face.  We must always provide the loving example of Jesus, showing concern or pleasing joy but not in an overboard fashion.  In all events, however, we need to show the example of ‘you can never have enough Son’ in any circumstance.

Paul writes about ‘you can never have too much Son’ in all of his Epistles in some form or fashion, but especially says this in Corinthians and Thessalonians.  Worshipping Christ is not a one-day-a-week event for the Christian; it is a 24/7/365 (366 on leap years) full-time endeavor of praising our Lord and praying unceasingly for our needs and the needs of others, no matter what we are doing or attempting to accomplish.  All of what we do or attempt to do should be for the benefit of the Gospel of Christ. 

But how does that work if you’re an accountant, a carpenter, or a program manager for a government contractor?  After all, there’s not too much that can be seen in terms of the Gospel when looking at a balance sheet or a 2×4 frame.  It is true that perhaps the paperwork for buying or selling property does say nothing about worshipping Jesus at all in it, only title transfer, rights of the buyer & seller, commission fees, etc. 

But we have to look at the activities that go into such work; you can worship the Lord while filling out those forms, praying the Lord’s Will be done; the accountant can represent Christ by ensuring the work is done honestly, and not cover up mistakes but own up to them and in any profession if a costly mistake is made, make restitution.  Do your best in what you do as you are a reflection of Christ. 

Even when an employer says, ‘don’t bring up your religion up in the workplace’, your actions, attitude, and language can show Christ.  If asked, you can give an honest answer – ‘I give all glory to our Lord’, or ‘My belief is my work should reflect my Lord’.  You are the best example of Christ to many, even without speaking Scripture out loud; be the Bible personified and live practically what you’ve read and heard from the Bible!  You can worship Jesus all day, in every moment, and you should as a follower of Him.