Meltdown?

Like you, we have been affected by the recent turmoil on Wall Street. The current situation has affected investments, lending, demand for whatever products or services each of us provides, the price of every day goods, and even charitable giving (secular and religious). Very few are unaffected.

Interestingly, most of the downturn is fueled not by economic realities, but fear. When sectors react out of panic and fear, the economy takes a hit. The temptation to react out of fear is worsened when one's trust is in money or retirement accounts or number of customers. If your emotional confidence lies in something volatile, like worldly goods, then when the thing you trust in is proven to be unreliable, panic ensues, which only worsens the problem. In other words, the economy is taking a hit at least in part because our collective trust is not in God, our Provider, but in things that are not eternally good and strong. Our money says, "In God we trust," but our country's trust is less in what the phrase means and more in what the phrase is written on.

If our collective trust was in God, our country would not worsen the problem of economic instability by reacting out of fear. I do not deny the volatility of the market - in fact, that's the whole point. The market is volatile - God is not. The last generation of a relatively prosperous market has lulled us into the false belief that the market is reliable and trustworthy, something that we began to believe we could entrust our security to. But God is not volatile or untrustworthy. He is always the same, always reliable. God will never suffer a "meltdown." God never needs to be bailed out. When our trust is placed solely in Him, there is never a reason to panic or fear.

I have no clue what will happen to the market. God never promised us an economy where we could all afford premium coffees and mobile phones. He promised to never leave us or forsake us. He promised to right every wrong and to heal every wound for those who trust in Him. He promised to be our constant companion both in prosperous and in lean times. He promised to give us everything we need in order to accomplish His will. He did not promise us a daily double tall no whip.

I don't like the prospect of a recession or a lessening of our personal standard of living. But those who have seen joy in our Kenyan friends know that a lesser standard of living does not mean that we have less opportunity for true joy and peace.

Our trust in God also affects our efforts to stabilize the economy. There is no question we as a society should make wise decisions in an effort to keep the economy from taking a serious downturn. But our motive must not be because we think that's the only way we'll be happy. Our motive should be that a maintaining a sound economy is what good stewards do.

No matter what the market does, we have a biblical admonition to always be good stewards of our money. That means that when the economy puts the squeeze on, we must make adjustments in order to live within our means. As Christians, we cannot insist on conveniences that we cannot afford. To cling to material goods because we trust them or we think that we can only be happy with them is a denial of God as our only source of joy and peace. Living beyond our means (or close to the limit of our means) denies us the privilege of helping others in need and helping to finance the work of the Great Commission.

Spend time in prayer to 1) Reaffirm your trust only in God, 2) Reaffirm that He is your only source of soul satisfaction, 3) Commit to always live within the means that God supplies, and to do so with thanksgiving, and 4) Give yourself to God's agenda for mankind with everything He has provided, including time, talent, and resources. Use this uneasy time to make sure your trust is rightly placed.

These times are unsure and tempt us to fear. We only need to fear if our trust is in something other than God.