The news is full of horrible economic information. This morning, I was writing to a friend who is in a period of great apprehension and confusion. I wrote a little, but then I started recalling that God is God, all the time. I found this page of the names of God very insightful.
He is El (sovereign, in control), all the time. (250 times in the Bible)
He is El Roi, the God who sees me, all the time. (Gen. 16:13)
He is El Hanne’eman (faithful), all the time. (Deut. 7:9)
He is El-Kanno (lovingly and jealously watching over us), all the time. (Exod. 20:5)
He is El Shaddai (all sufficient), all the time. (Gen. 28:3, and many other places)
He is El Chaiyai, the God of my life, all the time. (Ps. 42:8)
He is El-Channun, the gracious God, all the time. (Jonah 4:2)
He is El Rachum, the God of compassion, all the time. (Deut. 4:31)
And perhaps my very favorite, He is Immanuel, God with us, all the time. (Isa. 7:14)
John Piper wrote a very intriguing post today: Bad times are good for missions. He lists some reasons:
1. During an economic downturn we are more dependent on God. That is the most fertile soil for creating missionaries.
2. During an economic downturn unreached people around the world do not expect you to come, but to look out for yourself. So they may more likely see your risk as love rather than exploitation.
3. During an economic downturn those who need Christ around the world may be less secure in earthly things and more ready to hear about eternal life.
4. During an economic downturn people at home may be wakened to the brevity of life and the fragility of material things, and so may become more generous not less. And when they give under these circumstances, it will make Christ look all the more like the all-satisfying Treasure that he is.
God did not wake up some morning and say, “Look how big a mess these folks are in. I better sort this out.” It’s all part of his plan, even the difficult or confusing circumstances.
He is El (sovereign, in control) and He is Immanuel (God with us), all the time.
In my work in technology, we are implementing a global identity tool so that all staff and non-staff affiliated with our organization are known uniquely and individually. It’s a huge project. It’s the foundation of providing greatly-increased participation in helping launch spiritual movements around the world. So, I’ve been thinking about “identity” a lot lately.