When You Are Down, You Are Not Out!

The Market is invariably a series of ups and downs no matter how good you are as a portfolio manager, trader or analyst, you are going to have some downs. The biggest challenge is to not take yourself out of the game because just because you are down does not mean you are out. Same is true in your walk through life. The bible guarantees that there are going to be valleys, yet in these times God is with you. Being down can be an opportunity for God to step in and for you to rely on Him and not on your own ability. We all have our own talents and skills, which God has given us, however there are times when our abilities are not enough and it is during these times that God has the opportunity to operate.

When you are down and you don't know what to do and you are second guessing your every move, that is the time to take a step back and ask God to help you in the situation. God is a gentleman, he is not going to do the trading for you, but if you ask him he will lead you. In Proverbs 3:5-7(Peterson version) says, "Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go, he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all."

In John 10, the Bible talks about the sheep knowing God's voice because they are "familiar" with his voice. It is important for us to familiarize ourselves with God's voice, so that when we are down and in need we are able to distinguish it from other voices. There are predominately three kinds of voices that we hear, our own voice, God's voice and the enemy's voice. The enemy's voice is typically the easiest to discern because it is usually going to suggest to us to do something that is a short cut that is ultimately corrupt and for selfish greed driven results. I would like to suggest that it is more of a challenge to distinguish between our own voice and that of God's. Many times God's voice doesn't make sense and is not necessarily rational. It is like Christ telling the fishermen to cast there nets on the other side of the boat. There is no rational reason for there to be any more fish on the right side of a boat than on a left side of a boat. Many times our own voice tells us what we want to hear. Our voice tells us what we think is going to be best for ourselves, however God knows better.

In order to familiarize ourselves with God's voice so that we listen to it when we are down, we have to practice being in constant communication with him. Try seeking Him in the little things in life and as you learn to listen to His guidance you will learn to hear him in the big things. Why do baseball players who have been playing for years still go to batting practice before a game? You would think that they have been swinging at balls for all there life and could probably skip batting practice, but they go to batting practice so that at the time of the game, when the distraction of the roar of the crowd and the pressure of the game is at its pinnacle, they don't take themselves out of the game, they go to the familiar. Our prayer life needs to be like batting practice. Praying is something we should be doing as often and as frequent as possible so that when the market is going against you and the pressure is on, you automatically go to your place of prayer and know how to hear God's voice.