The Current Dilemma…
We Need To Be Wise In The Present …
Back when I was in school, which seems like a lifetime ago, we were taught problem solving. To work the problem was part of our criteria. Today, businesses pay lots of money to employ people like consultants, to solve problems for them. The entirety of what these experts do is to solve the problems through evaluating the needs as well as developing solutions. We even see this on TV programs which address the same topic – from kitchen or building nightmares right through to dating shows!
Currently, our society seems to have the lost the art of problem solving. I am not sure if it’s because we look for the simplest answer first; the band aid fix; something quick but convenient. I am not sure if it’s because we have become lazy or because we see it as having a lack of time and knowledge. Or, is it because we disregard seeing the long-term effects and are only look for something to hold on to now until it’s no longer our problem?
We see it in politics regularly, where it’s easier to blame someone else (the previous government) rather than take responsibility for it and fix it. Where have all the men and women gone who have vision? Where are the leaders that wish to see their vision fulfilled in this nation through politics? To forget or disregard the fact that life lives on beyond a single moment and cascades into the next generation is ignored. Our failed attempts of problem solving soon becomes someone’s else’s subject.
Let’s take Australia’s financial situation for example – Why do governments think it’s ok to rack up debt? To think “it’s okay, we will just borrow more money rather than only spend what we have”. This mindset filters down into our population. Today, we are seeing people handling their finances with little to no regard; perhaps it’s because society has been trained to expect a handout over working or living within their means.
Society knows that “when I have not been wise with what I have I can always go to an organisation and get a handout – someone else can help bail me out” but only to repeat it month in and month out instead of solving the real problem. The problem, most of the time, isn’t the rising cost of living, it’s the mismanagement of what people already have. We become a society that likes to have and we don’t understand the differences between wants and needs which leads to thinking our wants are in fact our needs!
We confuse what’s necessary and a moment of pleasure. The cost of living is on the rise and we have been reaping the blessing of living in a season of prosperity, but much like every season, they change and I foresee a season of frugalness, a season when we need to understand the difference between needs and wants.
If you have been living within your means and working your finances the best you can with what you have and not getting into more debt, I really commend you! Well done! You should be very proud of yourself. You will reap what you are sowing in the near future!
I understand that there are times that life will take unexpected turns and that’s a different matter, although we should plan for the unexpected, but when we continue to spend without thought of the future (which is the cause of the inflation rate) then we rob our future to feed our present.
We need to be wise in the present, understanding our needs to fuel our todays instead of living like tomorrow doesn’t matter. Thinking “there is no longer long-term benefits to our ways of life” is a mentality that is corrosive to not only a productive society but detrimental to the next generation.
It’s one thing to be concerned about the environment to which I believe we all should do our part, but I also believe we should be conscious of the financial insight that we leave to our children and those who follow after us. Debt is only positive if we benefit from it and grow from it otherwise it looks to conscript us and slowly disable our ability to build and develop a lasting future and community that far exceeds our span and legacy.
We need to plan for our future; when we fail to plan, we plan to fail.
We are here to help you journey through life. It really does take a village! If you need help, we are here, without judgement, for you. Change isn’t changed until it’s changed! We can change our community, but it first must start in our homes.
Peter Hartley
Senior Pastor, Dunamis Church