Writing on a sensitive subject like this is never wise. I realize that as a white collar professional with a job, a home, and food on the table, I haven’t fully felt the brunt of this difficult time we all know as the recession. I know that there are millions out there who are out of work, out of hope, and looking for answers to all this madness. Sadly enough, I remember a day a few years back when I was talking theology with fellow church members, stating that what the church in North America needed to shake it out of its lethargy was another depression. Little did I know what I was asking for.

But my point here is that the belief that God does use adversity to teach us humility, to help us develop character, and to encourage us to lean on Him. It’s sad that when things are going well, we’re less likely to depend on God. Why? We have everything we need. That’s the nature of Laodicea. So in no particular order, here are a few observations I have made of our mutual situation.

1. No matter how bad things are, someone else has it a little worse. That’s not to say you should take solace that your situation isn’t all that bad. It’s to say that there is always someone else we can be helping. And the encouraging part in all of this is that people who are really hurting still take the time to help other people. You see this especially around the holidays. I’m seeing more people and organizations reaching out than ever before. The sobering part is that as many people get help, there are many, many more out there who still need a hand.

  2. God wants us to get our priorities straight. A little tragedy often is the litmus test of the strength of a family. When you are confronted by a crisis, you find your planning becoming more and more short-sighted, until you realize you are living day-to-day. And maybe that’s not so bad. Matthew 6:31 says, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?'” The Bible isn’t saying we shouldn’t take care of our families; it’s just saying we should stop worrying and depend on God a little bit more. Even those of us with jobs have had our challenges over the past few years. I’ve been helping out family members, working harder than ever, and am now deeper in debt than I have ever been. And I know we are not the only people that are there. People have cashed out their retirement accounts, lived off credit cards and done other crazy things just to get by. But you know all this. The point is to keep you eyes on what is important in all this. God and family.

3. Humility. I started to write something about personal dignity just now, but the fear that I have is that people confuse personal dignity with pride. I know I do. Hard times call for us to do things we wouldn’t ordinarily do. Some of us have taken jobs that we wouldn’t have considered five years ago. But we need to keep things in perspective. We need to learn to be grateful for small graces. Titles, degrees and abilities won’t mean much in the end. It’s doing what we can with what we have, where we are, which is important.

My parents lived through the Great Depression, and we kids tended to laugh at their stories of walking to school barefoot, having a chunk of cornbread for lunch and being forced to wear the same dress every day to school for a year. But we aren’t laughing now. Those were troubling times, years that left an indelible imprint on a generation for the rest of their lives. But it also made them the tough people that they ended up being. The same generation that fought and won a world war.

Maybe that’s the bottom line in all this. Maybe God is preparing us for another crisis, a challenge that calls for tough-minded individuals who have their priorities straight and depend on God, rather than depending on ourselves. Times are hard, and I pray they don’t get harder. But I also pray that this experience helps me become the person God wants me to be.