Down down down

Venture capital is down.
Consumer confidence is down.
Employment is down.
Auto industry is down.
Commercial real estate is down.
Foreign markets are down.
Down down down
Is anything going UP?
Some things are.
The opportunity to serve people in need is going up.
The opportunity to trust God when trusting isn't easy is going up.
The opportunity to build a faith that will last when the storms of life hit it is going up.
The opportunity to help our churches become communities where people actually get real with each other and love and support each other is going up. Don’t you agree? Certain truths remain unchanged, we know this for sure............like - God remains sovereign, The blood of Jesus is still more powerful than the stain of sin. Love still beats bigotry. Prayers still get answered. The Kingdom is still alive and well, and does not need to be bailed out by a stimulus package, isn’t that amazing? I am speechless when I think of it. The Bible is still the word of God.
Psychologist are interesting people, they write interesting stuff – they keep your brain ticking so that it doesn’t get rusty or dusty. So different from theologians, you know, some of them are so so drab!
Sometimes psychologist writers will ask their reader to do a hypothetical exercise, I enjoy doing it. I call it “intellectual thinking”. Have you heard of ‘helicopter people?’ conscious or unconsciously we want to take off fast like the helicopter, don’t know what the latest model the Russians have built, but Malaysian Air Forces are still using some outdated models that keep crashing somewhere.
This verse says we shouldn’t behave like ‘helicopter people?’ not my favourite verse either......... "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything" (James 1:1-2).
Sometimes I can get caught up in the challenges of life, face financial needs that are always shifting. Leadership requirements keep going up. Emails can be happy; but sometimes cranky people write them. And send them to me. My own motives get messed up. I get anxious, and then feel guilty. My disability doesn’t make things better for me. My emotional tolerance clash with my intellectual cognisant , the list is endless, then Paul says "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Cor. 4:17). His adjectives are particularly striking, since he likely wrote these words in chains, under oppression, awaiting execution. There wasn’t a helicopter waiting for him, you know.
Is it possible that in some way people actually need adversity, setbacks, maybe even something like trauma to reach the fullest level of development and growth?