Ian & Jocelyn Barker

I must admit that the current financial situation in America has me a bit worried. This only goes to show that I don’t trust in God like I think I do, and I am dependent on my own comfort and security.

For the record, I don’t think that this economic crisis will turn into another Great Depression. But that’s not the point. The point is that God is shaking this nation a little bit to show that we are fragile and utterly in need of depending upon Him. We have worshipped wealth and felt entitled to a “good life.”

I want my life and my message to be built on the idea that Jesus is returning soon, and that God will shake all that can be shaken to prepare His Church and expose the wicked ways of the wicked to the wicked. Now that there is a tremor of this shaking, I’m worrying about me.

However, while I worry about money, how long the comforts I enjoy will last, and what sort of world my kids will grow up in, I am learning to rejoice.

I am rejoicing because God is a God of mercy and judgement. When His judgments break in upon a nation, the people learn righteousness and sin is exposed. When I feel the pressure financially, I know that I am being given an opportunity to trust in Him. When I’m tempted to believe that God is severe in His judgments, I realize that the problem of sin is severe and God is merciful for exposing it. His judgments is an expression of His mercy, and His mercy is to judge.

The end goal of God’s judgments is to produce righteousness in me by exposing sin as sin. He is like a surgeon who will not let cancer keep growing but will cut it out. He will use the least severe means to produce the greatest amount of love in me.

Though I worry today, I know that He is a perfect leader who will always lead me in paths of righteousness. I can trust in Him because He has promised to always be with me.