Fat Cows & Skinny Cows

We were just in South Florida for a week, visitng FRC in Cooper City, attending various meetings and book studies, and bringing back materials for our Easter services here in Lima.

While we were in South Florida, we also visited a few malls, and they all were pretty empty. Even the people who were in the malls seemed to be spending more time window-shopping than buying, even as huge signs in store windows trumpeted discounts of 60% or more.

This financial crisis is beginning to remind me of the story of Joseph. In Genesis 41, Joseph interprets the dreams of Pharaoh. In one of Pharaoh's dreams, seven ugly, skinny cows ate up seven fat cows. Joseph interpreted this dream to mean that Egypt would have seven years of abundance, and then seven years of famine, and that they'd better start getting ready for the seven lean years that were coming.

I think this worldwide financial crisis means that we've begun seven years (or more) of skinny cows. What famine was to Egypt thousands of years ago is today manifested in bank failures, mortgage foreclosures, sub-prime lending scams, Wall Street greed and corruption, rising unemployment, currency instability, commodity price volatility, and an increased level of stress, tension, and desperation worldwide.

Joseph prepared Egypt for seven years' worth of skinny cows, and the country survived. You need to be preparing your ministry - today - for the same thing. If you haven't started to do so yet, then you'd better start immediately.