How to Remain Hopeful During an Economic Recession

So the secret has been revealed. The cat is out of the bag. America is in the midst of strained and struggling economic conditions. I know you're shocked. Please refrain from gasping in utter surprise, as hyperventilation is not particularly the healthiest means of expressing one's "flabbergasted-ness."

You certainly don't have to be an avid news junkie to realize the weightiness of the financial demise our country has become immersed in. Job loss and home foreclosures are at an all-time high. Small businesses and even corporate conglomerates are closing their doors left and right. Families are cutting back on grocery bills and even the most devoted of churchgoers are steadily placing less and less into the Sunday offering plate. Across the country, Americans are wondering: "What will be the ultimate outcome of the poor economy? Is there a leader who can turn things around?"

Almost in synchronization with the recent poor economy has come a wave of increasing depression statistics. According to Depression Guide:

• Approximately 18.8 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year, have a depressive disorder.

• Major depressive disorder affects 9.9 million American adults, or about 5.0 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year.

We've all been there. We've all had those days. It is certainly easy to adopt a negative or pessimistic outlook on life during such financially unstable time. All too often, however, it is these very outlooks that lead to such staggering depression percentages among adults. So where is the hope? What in life is worth clinging to? What in life can give us the strength to keep going?

We desperately need to be reminded, as a nation, who our God is. We need to be reminded of His grace and eternal sovereignty. I believe the Psalmist David got it right when he said:

"The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made; in the net which they hid is their own foot caught...The Lord made Himself known; He executes judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands...[But] the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the expectation and hope of the meek and the poor shall not perish forever." (Psalm 15-16a, 18: Amplified Bible)

In case you were wondering, it is the Lord God Himself who is not forgetting the needs of the poor and the meek referred to by David in the aforementioned passage. How often we limit our Creator! How often we downsize His limitless, unfathomable mercy, might, and majesty! May we always remember that He remembers us!

In his excellent book My Heart's Desire: Living Every Moment in the Wonder of Worship, renowned Christian author, pastor, and speaker Dr. David Jeremiah says, "Life has its holocausts-that's not news. The real story is the persistence of glory rising from the ashes. How is it that within the context of the worst life can dish out, many people come to love and to glorify God more deeply? I don't know the whys and wherefores of the evil that is allowed to afflict us. It's an enigma whose answers won't be unraveled in this lifetime. But the worst of misery is overshadowed by the wonder of faith; we marvel when people can look into the sky after it has fallen upon them with a crash and whisper, 'Praise the Lord anyway!'"

There is indeed something to be said for maintaining an outlook and lifestyle reflective of true joy, even during the most uncertain of times. It is a trait very much lacking in our current culture. But in exercising an attitude and mindset of joy, we must simultaneously remember not to worry. As busy, hardworking Americans, how often do we worry and fret over monetary issues? Perhaps the words of Jesus Himself are needed to address this particular warning:

"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:25-27, New American Standard-updated ed.)

What indeed will it profit a man to worry about that which he cannot control? Why not walk, live, rest, hope, and trust in the all-sufficient grace and plan of Jesus Christ? It won't always be easy. The days will be long and the road will be hard. But, in keeping with the words of David, we have not been, nor are we being overlooked by our loving Creator.

©2009 Joshua D. Givens The Underground Christian Magazine

This article was originally published here: http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2009/09/how-to-remain-hopeful-during-an-economic-recession/

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