Paper Losses

Paper Losses

Let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!

1 Corinthians 15:51

A few weeks ago I was on the phone with my financial adviser. “Mark, I have to thank you,” I said. “If it hadn’t been for you, I would have sold everything at the absolute bottom of the market.” It felt good to thank him now that my portfolio no longer looked so anemic. If Mark hadn’t been there to temper my fear, I’m sure I would have gotten rid of everything, locking in my losses when the market was down by more than 50 percent. Fear can have such devastating effects.

That’s true in our spiritual lives as well. God has promised us many things. He tells us that he is good, he is our loving Father, he will never fail us or forsake us. Such assurances may not be hard to believe when life is on an upswing. But what about those times when our lives resemble a bear market? How do we think about God when we’ve lost our livelihood, suffered an accident, fallen ill, been betrayed by someone we love? What then? Do we shake a fist? Do we tell ourselves that God doesn’t care? Do we let doubt corrode our faith? At such times it can be tempting to throw up our hands, to say we’ve had enough of this God and his fantastic promises. But to do so would be turning our backs on everything we know to be true. It would be giving up our hope. It would be selling out and locking in our losses.

Fortunately God has promised to make everything right—if not now, then surely in the end. The last will be first. The hungry will be satisfied. Those who weep will laugh. As today’s verse says, we will all be transformed. Because we are God’s beloved children, we will live and not die. We will also, I believe, be given the grace to look back on earthly sorrows and recognize them for what they are: “paper losses.” At times these losses are painful, frightening, and grievous—but they will one day be redeemed. Today, ask for the grace to keep believing. Refuse to lock in your losses, and instead choose to keep trusting in Christ.

Lord, today I choose to believe. Help me by your grace to keep believing, no matter what happens.