There’s Good News . . . and There’s Bad News

Everywhere we go, people are grumbling about “the economy.” Gasoline prices are soaring. The cost of many items at the grocery store are rising; if prices aren’t going up, package volumes are shrinking. With this fall’s Presidential election looming, Republican hopefuls blame President Obama for the stumbling economy; Obama still blames former President Bush.

I do little investing, so whether today’s stock market is bullish or bearish doesn’t faze me. But it still would be good to have an idea of what the economy will be doing in the immediate and foreseeable future.

Gas prices have many
of us out on a limb.

In my quest to find out from the “experts” what’s really going on with the economy, earlier this week I turned to my trusted source of insight and wisdom, USA Today. I was not disappointed. On page one of the “Money” section the headline read, “Economists see brighter picture.” The brief article said 45 economists projected positive outlooks for housing starts, employment and business spending. Good news, right?

Then I turned to page 4, where the headline beckoned readers to “Three who believe the worst is yet to come.” What about the other economists who said things were slowly getting better?

So is it good news – or bad news – about the economy? The definitive answer, is appears, is “Yes!”

Admittedly, I’m clueless about economics. I struggled to a “C” in my only economics class in college. I don’t even try to balance our family checkbook. So if you wonder whether you'll have any pay at the end of the month – or too much month at the end of your pay – don’t ask me.

But I do know one thing: Worrying and relying on the opinions of the “experts” wastes mental and emotional energy. Better to trust in the one Expert that does know. He’s not troubled by cloudy economic forecasts.

Philippians 4:6,7 reminds us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayers and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Staring in the face of an uncertain, volatile, even frightening economy can provoke awful nightmares. Better to stare into the face of the God who promises He “will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).

These verses don’t promise freedom from problems and perplexities. But they do promise when they come, we can still experience peace if we trust in the Lord. And that is good news!