How is life with God like investing in the stock market

 
I often use an analogy to help people understand how to grow in faith. Life with God is a lot like investing in the stock market. People who try to time their investments generally loose.

There was a study done about 10 years ago on the S&P 500. (You didn’t realize you’d get investing tips, did you?) From 1983 to 2003 (over 20 years) the annualized return was 10%. What’s amazing is that during that 20 year period - if you take out the 20 best days (1 day per year) the annualized return dropped to 5%. If you missed the best 40 days (the best 2 days per year!) the annualized return dropped to 1.5%.

So the goal is to try to jump in at the strategic time, right? Wrong. That almost never works. The key is to always be in.

If you are always ‘in’ you’ll get those 2 days. In fact, the ONLY way to definitely get the two days is to always be in. And, yet, lots of people still try to ‘time’ the market.

Lots of people try to ‘time’ God too.

We pray or read our Bibles - when we feel the need. We serve a few times a year - when the mood is right, when it’s convenient. We seek out our brothers and sisters for fellowship - when we are feeling lonely. That’s trying to ‘time’ God. Showing up only when you think you need Him.

Does it work? No.

This ‘method’ almost always leads to frustration. And no one wants a frustrated relationship with God. Right? So what do you do? Establish good spiritual discipline. Do the right things over and over again, whether you feel like it or not. It might seem like drudgery sometimes (many times) but over time, it is the most reliable way to develop a full, joyful, hope-filled life with God.