It's About Time

Most scientists tell us that it took billions of years to create the earth as we know it.  Scripture says God did it in six days.  I have a question for God.  What took you so long?

Think about it.  If God had really wanted to, he could have snapped his cosmic fingers and just made it all happen in a nanosecond.  But he didn’t.  Therefore I ask, “What took you so long?”

We get a big hint to the answer to this question right there in Genesis 1.  

We read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.”  We here get a picture of a universe in chaos. “Without form and void” is translated from two Hebrew words “tohu” and “bohu”, which can be figuratively translated as “helter skelter”.  

“And the Spirit of God moved across the face of the waters.”  Almost a brooding Spirit here, contemplating what needs to be done.

What follows is a day by day account of separating light from darkness, land from sea, bringing order out of chaos, and the bringing forth of life and beauty from death and destruction, finally crowned by the creation of a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman.

It took time to do this, but it didn’t need to take any time at all.  Yet it did because God wanted it to. 

A curious little phrase occurs over and over in this account, and it clues us in on God’s thinking.  “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and God saw the light, that it was good.” (Verse 3)

“And God called the dry land Earth and the gathering together of waters he called Seas, and God saw that it was good.” (Verse 10)

“… it was good.” (Verse 12)  “… it was good.” (Verse 18, 21, 25) And finally, “… it was very good.” (Verse 31)

I get a picture here of a God who is intentionally taking his time and enjoying, nay, savoring, his work as a master artist would.  “This is good!”  “Man this is good.”  “This is very good.”

I believe there is a lesson here for us.  We live in a world oppressed by the tyranny of time.  In Greek mythology the god Chronos was a grotesque figure who had a penchant for devouring his own children.  We are like those children in Chronos’ maw.  We have hard deadlines, instant communications, microwave ovens, fast foods, Facebook, e-mails, texting and instant potatoes.  Empty contents of package, add water, and stir, and the world can know about it faster than you can say Twitter.  And for all this, we never seem to have enough time.

And yet we have a picture of a God with the burden of having a universe to run taking his time and enjoying it, and then having the idea, after six days of work, of kicking back for a day in order to enjoy it some more. 

An old Italian proverb says, “Slow down. I’m in a hurry.” Certainly wisdom is in there somewhere.

The Tale of Two Physicians

The first firm where I plied my trade as a financial planner built a respectable practice by marketing themselves to a client base of young attorneys and physicians. Two such physicians are the subject of this blog.

Physician #1 was a talented young surgeon a few years out of residency and was enjoying a salary the equivalent of a half million dollars per year in today’s buying power. And he lived like it. The proof was on his financial statement, including the big house, the sports and luxury cars, the lake house, the airplane, and the boat, all accompanied by offsetting liabilities provided by a generous local banker.

Those were the days of real estate and oil & gas tax shelters, and he was loaded up on those as well in the form of both direct ownership and “Private Placement” syndications, i.e., prepackaged limited partnerships bought through a stock broker buddy from college days offered as a “special opportunity” “just for really sophisticated people like you”.

There was also another curious item on his financial statement. It was a checking account representing his sole source of liquidity. The account had a smaller balance than mine, I being a guy who had just been hired as an assistant to a real financial planner and making less than 10% of the salary of this client.

Then there was Physician #2 who came on board at about the same time. He was a bright-eyed new doctor about to leave residency. Already he had adequate cash reserves and promptly began a monthly investment program into a number of mutual funds. A few years later he had an impressive and growing investment portfolio along with a comfortable and expanding standard of living and no debt.

I puzzled at the time how two people with similar professional credentials could approach their worlds in fundamentally different ways, but it didn’t take too much puzzling to figure out that psychology and values are heavy factors in how people view and treat wealth. Some treat wealth as a scorecard, others as a security blanket. Some view it as a means to an end, some as a tool for doing good (philanthropy), and some see it as an ego prop.

When dealing with wealth management clients, it’s important to get a good bead on the client’s values and needs, and to honor those values and needs. At the same time a good counselor will plant a few seeds designed to get the client thinking about what his or her purpose is for accumulating wealth. It can be little more than a simple question such as, “What would you like this money to do for you?” Ask it, then sit back, shut up, and let them talk (or at least think).

One important lesson I learned from working with the two physicians: At every level of income you will find net savers and net borrowers. This little observation has held true regardless of profession, age, social class, and geographic location. Experience has shown that only net savers can build wealth and that borrowing to maintain the appearance of wealth is not the road to prosperity. Our job as wealth managers is to turn people’s spending deficits into surpluses.

Hmmm. I wonder if the federal government could use a Certified Financial Planner or two.

The Fifty Day Challenge

The title of this piece is derived from the New King James translation of Leviticus 23:16: “Count fifty days …”. This verse addresses the fifty days between Passover and Pentecost.

There is a clear scriptural tie between those two Holy Day seasons. In ancient times the Holy Land’s grain harvest would occur in the spring, beginning at Passover time and would last for these fifty days, beginning with the barley harvest and ending with the harvest of wheat.

In the story of the Exodus, this period of time marked the interval between the departure from Egypt and the event on Mt. Sinai, where the nation of Israel met God.

And in the New Testament this period spans the time between the resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

These fifty days did not just pass like any other fifty days. Important things got done. Bringing in a harvest is hard, productive work. The time between Egypt and Sinai was a period of education and learning to trust in God’s protection and provision. The Red Sea, the manna in the wilderness, the water from the rock, and the gift of the Sabbath all came to them before Sinai. And at the same time they were able to reorganize themselves at the suggestion of Jethro.

The disciples during those fifty days grew from despair to hope, doubt to belief, and discouragement to faith. They received the commission to go into all the world, and when some of them turned tail and ran back to Galilee to pursue once again their fishing business, Jesus pulled them back to the business of fishing for men. During those those fifty days they, like the Israelites, reorganized themselves with the election of a replacement for Judas.

The point is to avoid wasting these fifty days. Take the Fifty Day Challenge. Use the time to get closer to God. Do the hard work necessary to bring in a spiritual harvest. Pray more. Study the Word more. As Israel prepared to meet their God and as the church prepared to meet the Holy Spirit, at the end of this fifty days prepare for a blessing beyond your imagination to receive it.

Mediocre Obedience

Sir Ken Robinson about the challenges of quality education. That kid who can't sit still in class? Don't assume he's a problem child. He might be a budding genius. And please, please don't hang a label on him.