Where’s God in the Financial Crisis?

Why do mean people prosper?
Why do people of no faith live in such ease?
Why are the banking CEO’s and Wall Street suits making off like bandits with all our money? Where’s God in that?

Where’s God when so many people are facing financial ruin? By the time we all realize that we have sold our kids to the government, the greed of Wall Street will be forgotten. All the money we have loaned the banking system will be a burden to our kids and grand kids…while all of our retirements will have evaporated into thin air. We have indentured our kids to pay it all back.

If I can ever find a 'real' job (as my husband puts it) that pays anything worth while, I still won’t be able to retire until at least the age of 75. We are all going to be holding a big bag of s - - t for a long time. It’s not fair for sure. But who ever said life was fair?

Thank God – thank you God – that Jeremiah asked the same questions so long ago; and thank you for your answer. Look at Jeremiah 12. These exact questions are asked flat out. And the answer is a fresh re-framing of the mind. I think of my husband a lot when I read this section – and I read it over and over. Open your Bible now and find it.

My husband is under so much pressure as the sole provider of our household…it’s crazy. And now with the financial crisis adversely affecting our only hope of a comfortable retirement, he is really worried…because he thinks he alone carries the burden.

If you have little faith, guess what? It's matched with little hope. I believe, and Jeremiah confirms, that faith will bring us through this valley…we are not here to stay…and if we trust God …he will walk us through it. Got your Bible? Here it is:

In Jeremiah, God says, “if you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country how will you manage in the thickets? Your brothers, your own family even they have betrayed you, raising a loud cry against you. Do not trust them though they speak well of you.”

I know what you're thinking: "She is so off. What on earth does that have to do with my lay off!" What has that to do with the darn financial crisis?"

What God is saying is that in your profession you will compete, but don’t measure yourself against your competition, your peers - -set your sights higher. In your own personal growth, you will make mistakes, but don’t let them (your mistakes) defeat you. Rather, prepare for tougher obstacles, greater temptations.

And in your own family, you will be betrayed and rejected, so don’t fall into a trap of kindness. Be a guard of your trust. God goes on to say, "I will send the ones I love into the hands of their enemies." If your enemy is poverty...guess what? God might love you a lot!

Hardship is a loving act to strengthen you. Again: hardship is a loving act to strengthen your relationship with God. It is not an act of punishment or a sign of God ignoring you. He creates the enemy but he doesn't authorize bad things that come from the enemy, any more than you authorize any of the bad decisions your kids make (even though you created them).

The chapter of Jeremiah is all about being broken and rebuilt. If we can focus on God, ask Him to walk us through this valley of financial devastation, we will be strengthened by it and not defeated. He will take care of us through it.

All of us in the whole country are going through this…but not everyone will come out.