The past few months have brought North America — and ultimately the rest of the world — into very serious difficulties. A number of factors have combined to cause an economic downturn that seems to be the worst we have experienced since the Great Depression that occurred during the 1930s. The effects are widespread. Sales decline, jobs are lost, and incomes suffer accordingly. We all recognize that free market economies are characterized by cycles of growth followed by a recession, but what the world is experiencing today is more than this normal ebb and flow. We will not delve into the many factors that have contributed to what has occurred, but all experts agree that greed, on the part of both individuals and governments, has been a major feature in it all.
Living Beyond Our Means
Particularly in the Western world, people have lived beyond their means for many years, and easy credit has encouraged many to run up debts which they now find it difficult or impossible to pay off. Prices have been inflated, especially in commodities like housing, and people have taken on mortgages with payments that were far beyond their ability to maintain. Young people have been encouraged in this lifestyle by banks that have given them credit cards as soon as they graduate from university. Merchants, too, have promoted credit buying by offering long-term financing agreements. The whole process has been fueled by years of prosperity which many felt would never end. Having become accustomed to this “good life,” people find it hard to cut back.
However, we must remember that all through man’s history, the people of God have had a tendency to fall into the sins of the world around them. It is easy for believers to be caught up in the spirit of covetousness and to want more than the Lord has given them. There is a tendency to love not only the world but “the things that are in the world” (1 John 2:1515And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; (John 2:15)). The sin is an old one — one about which God has warned us many times in His Word. Although it may take varying forms in different cultures and parts of the world, the root cause is the same. In Western countries, credit cards have encouraged much of this reckless spending. In other lands where such things are not so readily available, the same desire may manifest itself in borrowing from others. All this only underscores the truth of Luke 12:1515And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. (Luke 12:15) (JND): “Take heed and keep yourselves from all covetousness, for it is not because a man is in abundance that his life is in his possessions.”
A Warning of What’s Ahead
What we are experiencing today is no doubt a warning from the Lord, as He gives the world a taste of far greater troubles that will come upon it during the tribulation period. In the first three and a half years of that period, God will bring down providential judgments that will destroy much of man’s vaunted prosperity, by disrupting the network of business and commerce that supports this good life. Finally, in the last three and a half years, man will be brought to his knees and forced back into primitive methods of survival and warfare. We can be most thankful that we, as believers, will be called home before that awful time.
Contentment With
What We Have
The wisdom of God in this matter is given to us very clearly in Romans 13:88Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:8): “Owe no man anything, but to love one another.” It may seem like a very restrictive principle by which to live, but it is the wisdom of God for those who will listen. To use a credit card to charge that for which we cannot immediately pay or to borrow money for the same purpose is to insult “the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17). If there is a lack in our lives, a lack of those things which we really need, then let us obey Philippians 4:66Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (Philippians 4:6): “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” God does not promise to give it all to us immediately, but He has promised to supply all our need, “according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:1919But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)). More than this, we can be assured of what is of greater value, for “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:77And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)). The believer who lives in obedience to God’s Word will find that “godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6).
Borrowing Money
In applying these scriptures, we do not mean to suggest that all borrowing of money is morally wrong. There is a difference between a secured loan and an unsecured loan. Having a mortgage on a house, for example, is a secured loan, in which the lender holds title to the house as security. Even in this, however, believers need to be before the Lord, in order not to overextend themselves. If we live and act before the Lord, we will not find ourselves going after what we cannot afford. Rather, we will remember that everything we have — our money, our home, and even our time — is ours only as stewards. They are to be used for the Lord’s glory, not for our own ends. They are a means to an end, not an end in themselves. We must remember that we are not left in this world simply to lead good, morally upright lives, and then to go to heaven at the end. No, we are left here to be living witnesses of the grace that saved us.
In these last days the Lord has indeed allowed “perilous times” to come upon us, and we need more grace than ever, in order to live for the Lord’s glory until we are called home. But “He giveth more grace” (James 4:66But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. (James 4:6)) and will surely make a way for us to honor Him, in obedience to His Word.
W. J. Prost