Written by: Philippe de Beer
Article provided by Parklane Properties
Article originally published in JOY! Magazine July 2026
We are living through an extraordinary season of shaking. Global financial markets swing on a single speech. Crypto fortunes built over years dissolve in days. Geopolitical fault lines that seemed distant – in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, the South China Sea – are reshaping trade routes, energy prices, and the value of currencies South African families hold their savings in. It is in precisely these kinds of seasons that thoughtful people – whether investors, parents, or simply those trying to build something lasting – find themselves needing to stop and honestly evaluate where their foundation actually is. It is a moment that calls for honesty about what our foundation is actually made of.
Advice from our Saviour
Jesus shared the parable of the man who built his house upen the rock (Matt 7:24-25) not to give investment advice, but to make a far deeper point: upon whom we choose to anchor our lives. Not on our wealth. Not on the sense of security that comes from what we have built or accumulated. But on Jesus, who calls us to be so grounded in Him that we are not shaken by what is happening around us, remaining in peace and firm in our walk with Him regardless of what comes. Yet the metaphor is also strikingly practical. A house built upon rock does not avoid the storm. The same rain falls on both houses. The same winds beat against both. The outcome is determined entirely by what lies beneath.
Investing in this season
Over two decades in property markets, I have watched each crisis – 2008, the European debt collapse, COVID, the 2022 rate shock – feel unprecedented at the time. What I observe today is different: the instability is simultaneously financial, geopolitical, structural, and moral. And many Spirit-filled believers carry a genuine, prayerful sense that we are in the final chapter before Christ’s return. If that is true – even approximately – planning around 2060 looks very different from planning around the next 5-15 years. That question reshapes everything about what wise investment looks like in this season.
The numbers behind the noise
The signals are consistent across every front: the world is moving through converging instability. The global economy carries more debt than at any recorded point in history – USD 348 trillion, roughly three times everything the planet produces in a year. In the United States, interest payments on national debt now exceed the entire defense budget. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought sustained land war back to Europe. The Middle East is navigating its most volatile period in decades, with Persian Gulf shipping disruptions adding cost and uncertainty to global supply chains. Tensions over Taiwan persist. And South Africa itself navigates structural economic pressures – a rand exposed to global sentiment, persistent energy constraints, and an investment environment that asks hard questions of every family trying to build long-term security. The believer does not operate from fear. But this moment demands honest discernment. And discernment begins with one question: what actually holds value when systems are shaken?
Why physical property has a different story
Physical property – land and buildings in genuine demand locations – has outlasted every economic system humanity has constructed. It holds because it is anchored to something that does not change: the fundamental human need for shelter, a place to call home, and a place to work. Yes, we have seen real estate crises – 2008 was severe, and the 2022 rate-hiking cycle caused corrections of 20% or more in some markets. But in every case, well-located property in genuine demand markets recovered and, in most cases, exceeded previous highs. The failure was always leverage and speculation layered on top of property, not the underlying land. Well-chosen property has always recovered. That is a track record no cryptocurrency or speculative instrument can honestly match. The Mauritius property market illustrates this well – appreciating consistently through more than two decades of regulated foreign investment, even as other markets around the world corrected sharply.
Discernment, not formula
Every reader is different. Every family’s situation is different. The Holy Spirit is the wisest adviser any of us will ever have, and His counsel is personal, specific, and timely in ways no article can replicate. This article offers a framework for thinking – grounded in the realities of our current moment – for those who sense that now may be a season to act wisely with what they have been given. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to how we steward what God has placed in our hands. Wisdom is available to those who seek it – and worth pursuing together.
This article appears in the July 2026 issue of JOY! Magazine. Read the digital version of this magazine here: joygifts.co.za
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Date published: 03/07/2026
Feature image: Sourced from original article published in JOY! Magazine July 2026
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