Invest In Gold

I listen to enough radio and watch enough news to be able to quote the commercials for companies offering to sell gold. You hear it all the time in today’s economy: the dollar is losing value, it’s not going to be the currency our kids will use. The answer? Invest in gold. Gold is the standard by which the dollar used to be based on, the one currency that has historically retained its value or grown in value. It does make sense, and I’ve often wondered if we should look into something like that. At times, I become so overwhelmed by the news of naysayers that I start to panic and feel compelled to take every last dime I have and trade it all in for the shiny gold blocks of security being offered. But then I remember why I’m taking up space on the planet.

One of the perks of my job as a house cleaner is the people that I meet. Most of them become very much a part of my life. One client in particular I’ve known for years through church. I started cleaning for Cindy about two years ago after her cancer had weakened her to the point that she needed help; not something she was necessarily familiar with. Over the weekend, she lost her battle with cancer.

At one particular appointment last year she thought her prognosis was improving. She was feeling better except for the constant pain in her back which she attributed to the pain of nerve endings growing back after being annihilated by the chemo. Instead, she was told that her cancer had returned wrapping it’s menacing fingers around her spine and taking up residence in her bones. It would seem to me that a diagnosis of these proportions would devastate even the most faithful. We are human after all, and the will to live is a natural part of our makeup. However, though stunned and saddened, my friend reminded me that her life is in God’s hands.

What kind of person says this when they’ve been given a less-than-positive diagnosis? What kind of person can fall asleep at night not knowing if tomorrow will be waiting and sleep in peace? What kind of person, while their human body is dying, knows a peace that grows ever bigger with each passing day?

The only type of person capable of this response is the one who has invested everything in gold and not the kind sold in heavy blocks that support an economy. By that I mean, the kind of person who has lead a steady existence of keeping priorities in check and God at the front. The kind of person who has spent her life in a relationship with God experiencing who He is so when the rainy day hits, there is no question in her mind if God is good and if He really does hold her life in His hands.

She has spent her life collecting verses to quote in the midst of her darkness. She has invested in her kids in such a way that in her time of desperate need, they have reworked their schedules to accommodate her doctor’s visits. She has invested in friendships that have had a huge return in the form of helping her get dressed and making her lunch. God and people. Those were her nuggets gold.

I find the following quote interesting when put in a spiritual context:

“Historically, gold has been a proven method of preserving value when a national currency was losing value. If your investments are valued in a depreciating currency, allocating a portion to gold assets is similar to a financial insurance policy…” (EagleWing Research 2012, italics mine).

Oh the parallels we can draw! Let’s reword it like this:

“Historically, a relationship with God has been a proven method of preserving value when the world’s system is valueless. If your investments are valued in a depreciating currency (ie. the things of this world), allocating to God all of your assets is similar to an assurance of peace…”

Matthew 6:19-21 says this:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (NIV).

I can’t pretend to know the thoughts that swirled around my client’s head as she lay in her hospital bed at home. What I can tell you is that every other Wednesday for the last two years was, for me, rich. Besides cleaning, we spent time exchanging news about life, encouraging one another and crying together over disappointments. I will miss her so much, but I will see her again someday.

Her faith in Jesus was her legacy, and her devotion to Him was her investment. What will yours be?