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By David Wright The economic crisis is hitting painfully close to home. Bruce Blanton, Jennifer Jones, Jerry Montgomery, and Wanda Templeton are all searching for jobs; and Jerry Casey is hoping to obtain a full-time position to replace his part-time job. Probably, other members of the congregation are anxious about an impending lay-off. What is to be done? Should the Christian trust in his own intelligence, skill, and resources? The reality is that the job market is tight even for well-educated people with experience and a good work ethic. Besides, trusting in oneself is arrogant. Solomon says, “Do not rely on your own insight. […] Be not wise in your own eyes” (Prov. 3:5, 7). Should Christians trust the government, then? According to a Monday morning news headline on talk-radio station AM 970, investors are celebrating Barack Obama's pledge to spend the U.S. economy out of its recession. But is this approach guaranteed to work? Isn't the current crisis the result of overspending? What condition will the country be in if the massive bailouts fail? No economist or politician really knows what will happen next. The economy may strengthen, or the recession may deepen into a depression. In these unsettling times, what is certain is that Christians must never make human resources their confidence. Jeremiah warns: “Thus says the Lord: 'Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land'” (Jer. 17:5-6). The prophet follows this curse with a beautiful blessing on those who put their trust where it belongs. Jeremiah says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit” (Jer. 17:7-8). Solomon, in the familiar Proverbs passage cited above, concurs: “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Prov. 3:6). |
