The stock market was down again today. It gets very grating day after day - continually watching the value of my retirement account decreasing. We are now at market lows not seen since my oldest child was a baby. Wow - talk about a set of memories that I’m not sure I want to live over again!
I am in the middle of reading The Snowball by Alice Schroeder. It is about the life of Warren Buffet, who as you no doubt are aware is one of the wealthiest individuals in the world because of his stewardship and management of Berkshire Hathaway. While I will not quote Mr. Buffett directly (it is somewhat inappropriate for a Christian website), I will paraphrase him by saying that in the 1970s - when stocks were beaten down in a bear market similar to ours - he felt like a proverbial kid in a candy store with many stocks to choose from, because the opportunities looked so good.
Earlier today, I was chatting with a colleague about the current market levels and concluded the conversation by saying that I truly believed in 5 or 10 years from now that the stock prices of today would seem like an absolute bargain - just as they did for Mr. Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway back in the 1970s. Looking back 30 years, Berkshire Hathaway shares closed 1978 out at $320 per share. Even after all of the market turmoil of the past 18 months, they are still valued at $75,750 per share today!
So what does this mean for us as Christians? It demonstrates the importance of taking a long-term point of view in order to achieve our goals - similar to what Paul wrote to us in Philippians 3:14 about our ultimate goal: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”.
So please continue to look toward the future with confidence. Our life is a journey, not a destination. The only destination that matters is heaven - whatever happens here is just a brief moment from our eternal existence with God.
