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It’s kinda weird to talk about, in light of what’s going on in my life, but in a strange way this credit mess can actually be a good thing, if you look at it with the right perspective.
Up until now, credit has made up a large portion of our GDP. It’s been a big part of household spending, and it’s been destined for failure.
What this financial mess has done is focus people on the fact that they cannot continue to have the expectation that tomorrow will come, that they will always have a pay check, and that things will continue to be as they were.
As the reality of my job being almost done proves, none of these things are for sure. And yet credit relies on this false assumption that things will always be the same or better.
So, how does this translate to the financial crisis? Because people are seeing, firsthand, that they need to be better prepared. They need to have their money wisely invested. They need to have emergency funds, and they need to have less debt. When the “unthinkable” happens, they need to be prepared.
So, if this financial mess gets more people to pay cash rather than credit, if the fact that easy credit may be going away, to be substituted by harder credit, if we find that the government may actually be able to scale back—then the financial mess may have a positive outcome, rather than negative.
I’m sure that God works all things together for good for those who love him. And like you, I believe that the credit crunch may be for good. Certainly, building a nation’s prosperity by encouraging avarice and debt is deplorable.
Unfortunately, though, it tends to be the poor and uneducated who suffer most. And what about those who don’t know the Lord, let alone love him? Will this turn them to him, or against him?
Having written in Christian magazines twenty years ago on what to do if you find yourself in debt, I’ve now blogged on the subject. It’s part of a series which can be found on http://www.melmenzies.co.uk/blog/tag/debt
@Mel Menzies: I think the relationship between the mess and the Lord will be made individually, not as a group. By that I mean that I doubt many people are going to blame God for the mess, as we’re too busy blaming different political parties or classes of people.
That being said, Jesus’ message always worked better with those in need rather than those that believed that they had no need. It’s a great opportunity to show the love and power of Christ to those in need– if we take advantage of it.