Thoughts on the economy

A friend sent this message. I thought it was worthy of sharing with you also. So, with permission of Bob MacLeod, here is some very appropriate thoughts from God’s word about our economy today.

As I read the newspaper and all of the economic ‘highlights’ every day, I thought of headlines I don’t think we’ll ever see…

• Fed Adopts Biblical Prinicples; Pays Off National Debt
• President Leads Nation in Fasting and Prayer / Calls on People To Change Their Wrong Habits
• IRS Agent Confesses to Bilking Taxpayers / Promises to Pay Back Every Dollar Fourfold.

That may seem humorous at this moment, but all three of those are direct from the Bible.

In Deuteronomy 28, God promised that if the nation followed him, they would be debt free and lend to other nations.

In Jonah 3, the king of Nineveh heard Jonah’s proclamation of doom and immediately fell to his knees in prayer and repentance, calling on all the people to do the same.

And in Luke 19:8, Zaccheus-a tax collector-met Christ personally and promised to restore 4x over anyone he defrauded.

It can be hard to filter out truth from the news, especially because the news media seems to thrive on the bad news more than the good news.

In light of that, here’s another headline:

• God announces global stimulus package: Follow Me and have all you need.

The great news is that God is still in charge. His portfolio has not changed. The challenge with following God is that He doesn’t always provide what we want, and He doesn’t always provide what we think we need-on our timetable.

In the last week four Campus Crusade staff members have come to me with personal financial questions on debt, budgets, and taxes. Two by-products I have seen of this economic uncertainty are:

1. People are looking to God for answers. People are praying more, like they do in any times of uncertainty. The Bible recommends praying always-but more so when we’re in distress.

2. People are re-evaluating their spending and changing their habits. I love chocolate, and I’d eat a lot of it everyday-if my body would let me. But even when I cut back, I sometimes find myself eating too much. So periodically I have to step back and change my habits… again.

As a financial counselor, I encourage you to re-evaluate your spending and savings. You should do this often, but now especially.

And if you are struggling with economic uncertainty, or worse-actual job loss, I encourage you to bring that before the Lord. Just pour your heart out to Him and wait on Him.

Here’s a final word of encouragement from Habakkuk 3:17-19 regardless of your financial situation:

Though the fig tree should not blossom
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.

God is sovereign. His goodness and mercy never goes into recession!