Where Shall I Invest?

The instability of today’s global market has left people hard-pressed to find the wisest places to invest. After all, there are no investment strategies that can guarantee dividends in the midst of an uncertain future…except one. The Lord offers a divine principle that, if heeded, will sustain his people in the coming days: learn to invest in people.

If we truly share God’s heart, other people ought to be our focus. This concept is contrary to our natural instincts, particularly in a time of calamity. Our entire focus turns inward, and our tendency is to withdraw our hand from doing good and instead begin to cry out about ourselves. When the disciples found themselves in the midst of a storm and saw that Jesus was asleep at the back of the boat, they began to cry out, “Master, do you not care if we perish?” (see Mark 4:35-39).

They completely neglected the fact that other little ships were traveling in the same storm with them. The disciples were the only ones in the storm who actually saw God and knew that he was with them. You would think that their cry would be “Master, wake up. There are people out there in little boats who are perishing. We have you here with us; you have told us that we are going to the other side, and that is sufficient. But others don’t have you with them. You must do something!” Of course, other people were not their chief concern at the moment. Usually the last thing on our minds during a calamity is investing in other people.

However, giving to others, particularly in our own time of need, is what will actually sustain us. We must never forget that people are the focus of God. He came into the world to redeem fallen humanity, to save you and me. He did not come to make us feel better about ourselves or to give us a bigger slice of the socioeconomic pie. As the well-known verse tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16, NKJV). He found the redemption of our souls worth the price of his own blood and the keeping and consecrating of our lives worth the deposit of his very own Spirit. What an incredible investment he has made in humanity! Let us give to others out of gratitude for this great gift.

^{Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. In May of 2020 he transitioned into a continuing role as General Overseer of Times Square Church, Inc.}