What are my worst fears about the economy from a Christian perspective?

[Jubilee21]

I found myself in a conversation with one of my sibblings over this recently and one I am concerned is not saved..but operates with a false sense of security that is not the case. She expressed many concerns so many have..

She wanted to discuss the practical and fundemental issues of the economy and state of the world and its not difficult to find myself going down that rabbit trail with my own concern's as well..

But I found myself being very deeply convicted when I listened to some of my own answers I was trying to give her, to raise her concerns, to reconsider her lifestyle and choices..

so I asked her to forgive me and allow me to begin over again and try to put things out there for her..that I wanted to pray about this more and then get back to her..

So I found myself asking God to show me what I am afraid of and "why".

Some might say these concerns are their "worst fears"....

Not being able to get on the internet?

Using the lights only when we need to?

Making do with what we have?

Learning to fix something?

Staying in shape and eating right as your primary health care plan?

Driving a small car? 40mpg is the same as 2 dollar a gallon gas if your old car got 20mpg.

Needing good credit to get a loan?

Pay as you go with cash way of life?

Less time watching TV and more time being busy?



Some of my worse fears are often still and always along these lines..

Not being able to feed the kids and if they where to go hungry, because of my negligence - What if I made a mistake or was unable to protect them?

The dead of winter, no heat or food. - The middle of summer. no cooling coming and I could do nothing to change this or prevent it?


Being able ( and willing) to shoot to kill, if some one trys to take your life or the lives of the ones you must protect - what would I do?

Expecting that the price food and heating/gas getting so high, in relation to everything else and I couldn't make ends meet to survive....worried about paying basic bills...what would I do if this was not in my control?

The perception of total loss and devestation by the betrayal of someone as I had to endure with my marraige that is hard to comprehend...how would I carry on?

Losing the house?

Unemployment?

The loss of my health?

The loss of a loved one through death?

All of these worse fears have come about in some form or fashion, some came with short durations and improved, some have come and stayed, with no prospect of change being a reasonable relief from them..

My sister has seen me live with and through my worse fears, and yet she still does not distinguish these things as the worst of things to fear..she thinks they are the worst, I do not.

She is more interested in the upcoming months..
She wants to know about what I will do in the event of what if's...

If you or your family going to eat next winter, if you are not growing it now. or able to grow enough, to last you and your family?

life..... and death...the fear what could happen here where I live if things get really bad.... afraid of the people who cannot deal with the scenarios and the resulting chaos....and these are the dangerous ones?


If i am just afraid of trying not to be seen concerned with what we should eat and what we should wear while I am really like every one else contemplating starving and being naked as in heating the house above freezing this winter winter when it gets -30 degrees and keeping food on the table for the family?



She want's to know what my worst fear and what I am doing about it when it comes to what is going on in the economy considering the potenial for so much disaster and hardship..how am I prioritizing things ahead based upon what I know about my other worst fears that are behind me?


Something was so "off" about her questions of me and my own answers as I tried to share what I had learned and what practical steps I could advise her to take when it came to the economy..as a Christian...

And when I stopped to pray about this..the answer came loud and clear.. I was trying to explain to her that my worst fears about all of those things were still with me, and I had no reason to offer her not to be very afraid,there is great reason to "worry"..but there was a HUGE difference between what things I worried about in respect to what my worst fear was ..and thats when it hit me..what she and I call "the worst fears"

My worst fear was not about them at all..

Of all my worst fears, this possibility is it for me....How am I relying upon Christ to counter the nonsense with triviality?

How about having loved ones that you know have never accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior?

That's what I wrote back to my sister today..I am no different from unbelievers when it comes to my worst fears about the economy, but my worst fear has nothing to do with the economy at all..

I told her that everyone is preoccupied with the applications of their worst fears with the economy..and becoming absorbed in the affairs of the world as it comes to the spirtual aspects of whats happening to the world..how the immediate situation is lining up.

How it over flows into the conversations folks dwell upon their worst fears..trying to find folks that are similar to themselves as well as set themselves apart from those that are different when it comes to all of "these fears"..what response to give to them..what steps to take to attempt to prvent them from coming to bear..

I understand this I have had to ask myself what my worst fears were, but in hindsight after having had to meet them..I only learned what I would do opposed to what others do when they are faced with them..

I told her that when I asked God to show me my worst fear, it was the prospect that she would not chose Christ as her Savior and that loss was breaking my heart because I loved her..as was my concern for others I profoundly care about and its clearly been determined they have rejected Christ and the world continues to take the focus off off this..

I told her I did not know if I had failed her in some way by not making sure she understood my worst fears were simply not about those other things that had been about some of my greater fears..

My worst fear's and only fear ultimately was this for her..that I offered her the best answer I could..I wanted her to consider trying to focus upon anything that can be priroitzed as something Christ would have me worried about for both of our sakes..both hers and mine.

That what is happening in our economy should be perhaps something we all can use to be concerned about when it comes to our worst fears...

That we all need to ask ourselves..What is our "worst fear"? What is it for, what is it about..Christ tells us what not to worry or be anxious about that has to do with the "anythings" but I think we forget some times that there are things we should be very anxious and worried about when it comes to the anybody's, somebody's and everybody's..and especially the nobody's the world distracts us from when we worry about "our bodies"....

The Body of Christ has nothing to fear for themselves.. except fear on behalf of those who have not accepted Him, opposed to fear from them...it was only grace that seperates us from them and Christ would not have one of them seperated from Him, were this His choice alone..

That's what I left with my sister today as my worst fear for tomorrow, it was the only one that seemed to matter anymore when I stopped and asked Christ what answer to give her when it came to our economy opposed to all of the ones I kept coming up with..

I never feared not experiencing God's grace until after I no longer had to, because it took the grace of God to show me I had not...I was destined to hell..not only was I not the least bit worried ..I was clueless. so all of my worst fears were "clueless" in terms of their hold over me...being a Christian did not make me able to stop being afraid, it simply made my worst fear greater than all of my others..and the others far more managable.

Now I may be destined to go through a taste of it on this side of the grave, it has often felt this way when it comes to my concerns with economics, but thats quite a different state of affairs..

What should Christian's be telling the world their worst fear is?

This is my answer..not if the world comes between them and me because of the crosses the world has had me bear as a Christian with Christ along my side through much I have feared and probably will continue to which is not wrong or bad ..I am very much "perfectly human" when it comes to such things as we all are:hug

but if the Cross of Christ does not come between them and this world and what they will bear if this does not become their worst fear too..:candle

[tygerkittn]

My son isn't saved, but I have peace, because I pray for him, and God's timing isn't our timing, so it's faithless of me to be impatient. My oldest daughter says she's saved but I wonder about her. God's Will is that not one of these little ones should perish, so I'm praying in His Will. I'm confident that my children will all make it to heaven with me. My appreciation of God wouldn't be so deep if I hadn't had all those years I was unsaved.
If my son gets saved at my funeral, or after the rapture, the timing doesn't matter, what matters is that he be saved.
I don't think I have a worst fear. Everything is in His Hands, and I trust Him with all of it.
My worst fear would be that I failed to discern His Will, and didn't do what I was supposed to, but He's a big enough God to work around that, and He knows I'm an idiot and He has to speak verrrry slooooooowly with me or I just don't "get" it. I would hate to have missed an opportunity to serve Him, but He doesn't need me.

[Tammy]

I think two of my fears would be safety for my family and the unknown. None of us have been through something like this and we really don't know how it will all go down.

[Jubilee21]

Well.. since God says fear is the begining of wisdom..have to go with not all fear is bad, :lol2 and the fear of God is a healthy thing as well as a very good thing!


So sure I am able to be afraid and not sin, so long as I am not a slave to my fears...that I am just as secure in my faith that God is working in these circumstances if they do not "go my way" as I am when they do.

That was my point to my sister in her case and how she percieves fear perhaps. The very things I would pray to God to show me and lead me through she would not..so I absolutely agree God does not need me for anything, and that I need Him in all things..another concept my sister does not quite understand "yet" perhaps?


So my challange was listening to my words through her ears..and to be sure she was hearing what God would use me to have her hear, opposed to not confusing her more by using things about God to have her hear more about things, things like the economy..

There are some real tough issues arising very quickly and some with dire consequences for those who do not respond to them as it applies to whats going on in the economy..

Regardless if we raise them with others or others raise them with us..the very nature of them do in fact raise fears..valid concerns..

Certainly as much as this forum has approached them and monitor all of them, it would be pretty silly to say we do not have concerns or it would be wrong to call them fears.:)

It also would be rather strange for an unsaved person to hear us discuss all these things and all the various ways we have been led to take precautions and attempt to put our prioities in order with the sincerest and highest desire to discern God will in these matters with our worldly affairs and responsibilites for our families and brethern in Christ..and then not be able to reconcile why we are.

If it is not 'fear' of something that is motivating us to do this, then why are we doing it?

My point being is that sure there are legitimate fears we have and that to approach them scripturally does at times require taking certain steps that we have been led to becasue we have indeed submitted what they are to Christ and are walking by faith when we do these things.

Heck, I would never apologize for that or pretend its other than that..I am just trying to make sure these fears are not misunderstood without that context..

My fear is not about myself or for myself..I have none of those "fears" left..in the sense I a very much trust God and put my life and all of its details in His capable hands..but at the same time..

The worst fear I have is for those who have not..and I don't think that is about being faithless in the same sense..to be afraid of pain is wrong..

Jesus had no issue with contemplating what was about to happen to His body and to turn to the Father and ask to not have to drink of that 'cup' as He had when he qualified this prayer, as his sweat turned to blood over contemplating those realities yet could also fully accept and desire that the Fathers will be done in the final answer to what was going to happen to His body, even if it was not that one.

Jesus gave us the example that these fears are common to all men, nor a sin at all..Jesus was without sin...He also gave us the truth that no matter what happened to us, there was no temptation or fear that God would not also provide the spiritual strength and means to overcome those fears..including a supernatural peace provided by the Holy Spirit to submit ourselves to any form of pain, internal or external that brough us fear.

That can and does include what we would be tested by if it was the type of pain that is far worse and perhaps the greatest of fears..to watch one we love go through something we would give anything we have to "give" to spare them that.

I could and would "take a bullet" and anything else for my sister..she knows this, I have...she also knows in certain circumstances I would take a bullet from her as well..she knows this because there has been incidents that the wounds caused figuratively were far deeper and more lethal than any literal one could have been when they were "fired" and found the target. She has seen this consitently in terms of others, both intimate family and strangers in respect to my work over the years along side of my personal life.

What she still may not understand is "why" ..and my worst fear is not about what she or anyone else can do to my body..as a seperate fear "for her"..

There is absolutley nothing more heart breaking than to watch someone you have loved 'die' and know they never accepted Christ, right up to , during and to their last breath..rejected Him.

Having witnessed that it brought great sorrow and yes - fear for was to lay ahead for the balance of their lives was always present, while they lived, it just became a reality once they died.

..and I assure you I did attempt to try to instill the fear of God into them..out of love... with love as my motive..just like I tried to put the fear of the Lord into my kids running out into a street full of traffic after a ball that got away from them in the yard.

I don't find this inconsistent with God's approach to many to bring them to their senses ..the OT is full of such accounts..and the Book of Revelation is certainly and example of no limits God will spare to bring those to Him that need tough love to get the "big picure".

What does Jesus want us to do and why? It's true He does not need us to do this in order for it to be accomplished..but yet He tells us to "do it"..as is true of so many things He instructs us with how we should live, when it comes to the purpose for our lives on behalf of others.:hug

Matthew 28:18-20,

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

Notice the four “ALLs” -

All authority
All nations
All things
Always

Seem's we have something we do not to fear with regard to anything at all that will happen to our eternal souls when it comes to what Christ has done for us if we have submitted ourselves to Him, confessed, repented and recieved Him as our Lord..we must never forget God's holiness is so great and His mercy so deep, we would not be able to bear either if the Holy Spirit did not interceed on our behalf..and Christ revealed this to us as He did on the cross.

We are in very good hands indeed!

But at the same time fears about our flesh, our loved ones, our family in Christ for their welfare and well being..and the lost?

Of course we have fears..as well we should..IMHO...there are many things Christ instructed us to be very on guard for to the extent they could harm us and our relationship with Him in respect to what consequences it would have upon us...Christians fall flat on their faces all the time when it comes to failing..

I certainly have and at times in spite of formidable effort and desire to obey God in these matters..because it matters so deeply to me that I don't..just like Peter.."I blow it!"...but I now know that Christ did not love me and did what He did for me because I would not blow it..but inspite of the fact I had..and would..nor ever could, or would deserve this.

But we do not have the same "worst fear" that the unsaved need to be alerted to that they should have - - that we could not have told them about until after we recognized we were exactly as they once were.."unsaved, unforgiven"..we should have been very frightened..

Unlike Satan who does not fear God..we were not created for the same things in respect the very unique relationship God intended with us from the "get go"..that even the angels envy in the sense that God spared nothing for us, not even Christ's sacrifice on the cross so that could be restored.:yeah

Some of us knew this yet put it off until Christ won us over with us inprevailing love ..some of us were simply clueless..

I was..I was raised in such a way, as my sister that this was the place God met me at and showed me..am sure He did not need those that He used to show me this..but I sure did..thats how He got my attention.

My worst fear is again for those who miss an opportunity they did not have to sooner than later because I missed an opportunity for them and for me to be used by God for this to be 'sooner than later' .

I do think back and ask myself..what if Adam had not thrown away his opportunity sooner..or Eve for that matter..so much may have been very different if the love of God been enough from the get go...if the knees had stayed bent!

I don't want to discourage the fears about the economy in the sense they are very proper ones to respond to with much that is a scriptural mandate to due so..I just don't want those my like my sister to think her worst fears should be about them nor will they ever become her worst fears if she learns what it means to "fear God" in respect to why she will never have to fear anything again if she gets that right!:hug

If she does not, what she fears about the economy, even if they do become realized, they are going to remain the least of her worries or fears.:ohno

And it is my love for her that persists in this being my 'worst fear' for her.

Sure I want my sister to be warm in the winter..I worry that the economy will spare no one when it comes around to some of the worse days we may see in that vein.. but my worst fear is that she does not find herself on fire for Christ and ends up in the eternal lake of fire..that's the worst of the worsts.

It will ultimately come down to her choice,..I know that God understands all of this too..and why that does not give me comfort at all yet..

those are probably tears that will be around for at least 1007 years if I understand scripture correctly if her worst fears do not change...I still have to put her in God's hands for what her fears are as I do myself when it comes to mine 'for her'..that is part of being a Christian that always "needs doing"..24/7 on this side of the grave IMHO..or I don't think we would have been told this by Christ..that we need to chose to do this..or that it is "optional". Love is never optional..:hug

My understanding is not until the end of those last 1000 years, all tears will be wiped away and forgotten..so mine will end for al eternity, while there will be so many, there's will only just begin..

Oh yeah..that scares the living hell out of me:twitch..nor am I ashamed to admit that!

It comes second after realizing I once was of such a "mind" I thought I could ever live without Christ or knew how to, when all I long for is to spend an eternity with Him, to try to show Him the depth of my love for Him, nor will an eternity will never suffice to be able to do that!..

[mikenelson]

Great posts. All I'd respond to is this:

Not being able to get on the internet?

Using the lights only when we need to?

Making do with what we have?

Learning to fix something?

Staying in shape and eating right as your primary health care plan?

Driving a small car? 40mpg is the same as 2 dollar a gallon gas if your old car got 20mpg.

Needing good credit to get a loan?

Pay as you go with cash way of life?

Less time watching TV and more time being busy?


It worries me that for many people, those are fears. Because frankly that's how we should have been living, and the fact that we haven't been practicing and promoting those things as a society is a big part of why we're at the economic situation we're in now. I'm just as guilty of some of these things myself.

Which brings up my biggest personal fear in all this - the breakdown of law and order. I know I'll be fine, heck I don't have that much to lose besides a comfortable way of life in relation to much of the world, and I'll have to adapt...the Lord has made everything possible up to this point and has seen me through. It's those people who are more "morally challenged" that I worry about. Because if everyone was honest and truly loved others as they love themselves, then we wouldn't be to this point - and when crisis happen, those failings are going to be greatly exemplified. Or maybe I'm underestimating the average person, and most people will pull together, which is my hope.

[tygerkittn]

I think seeing how God led me to stock up, and there was a reason for it even though I thought it was crazy at some points, has made me feel safe. He knew I'd blame myself if my family starved, and He prepared us, so now I rest in Him, knowing He has all things under control.
Lawlessness does worry me a little, but there are many examples in the OT of God protecting His people, and I have no doubt He'll protect us if it's His Will. If it's not His Will, then an army couldn't save us.
Part of my prayer every night is based on a Psalm, for God to protect us from those who would be our enemies. I paraphrase a bit to fit our situation, but it worked for David and he had tons of enemies.

[BeNotAfraid]

Crime is my fear. I am afraid for my babies. I choose to handle it by putting my full faith in God, but I still struggle with it.

Reading about the situation in Argentina with women and children getting raped in their homes, people getting kidnapped in the streets--ahem--I think I am giving ear a certain someone who is whispering in my ear and playing off my fears...

:pray:pray:pray

[BackHomeAgain]

This is how I look at it....the Spirit has nurtured many of us throughout our lives and has helped to build us up. I have felt much grace growing up, and almost had a sort of silent understanding that I would always be looked out for. I guess that could be the definition of Grace itself.

Well....now it's different. I still feel very connected to God and feel as if I am the same person, but the Spirit is no longer there to hold my hand. My internal biology feels that we as humanity are in a time of war, and God is the General on our side. He is out making his plans and making the sweeping actions and changes to this world, and I feel we as soldiers are left under our own command. While everyone here has different levels and views of their personal hardships over time.....this era will be giant steps up for all in hardship. For me, that may be making decisions that aren't second nature with my gift of discernment. The old "If two people were hanging off of a cliff, which one would you save?" kind of decisions are cropping up and will continue to do so.

This feels to me what we as Christians have been prepared for. We are the lucky chosen ones to be here at this time. I personally feel the Rapture is soon as a reward to those that have been trusting and faithful through all the inequities of life. God wants to save us and not force losing good souls because of absolute hopelessness and fatigue. We all feel it at times, but we ain't seen nothing yet! Those that are good people that haven't accepted Christ may have to go deeper into the mess, but hopefully their hearts will proclaim the truth once they see what is happening. Many people bring up the point that the Raptue won't occur until the number of Gentiles is full.....but at a certain point of tribulation and testing, we will start to lose faithful souls quicker than non-believers can convert. The Bible is full of math, and to me that is another sign the Rapture is soon. I am sure many faithful would be strong no matter what the circumstances, but there has to be a spiritual point of yelling "Uncle". Heck, Jesus even did it for a moment.

In summary!....we have nothing to fear. Use our skills from basic training to fight the good fight, and if things go downhill in rapid fashion, show kindness in caring for other wounded soldiers. People tend to operate on instinct in the chaos of war. God is trusting us to use our instincts as we move along. He has bigger things to tend to right now. We are all on the same side though. He trusts us to carry out his plans.

[sunshine2777]

God is always faithful enough to give us His grace and strength when we need it, not a minute before, if something big should happen. So we shouldn't worry about that. For the most part, I dont fear things happening as much as I just dont want to go through them. Its that simple. But Jesus didnt "want" do go to the cross and go through all He did but He did it for us. If we can get our focus on others, that will, just by itself, help us go through things we dont want to go through.

We are all still down here for a purpose, His purpose. Otherwise He would have taken us home when we got saved. I'm not wild about the crime prospect either, but God will always use it for His glory and our good. Regardless of what it is. This may look like satans time to run the world but He is nothing but God's patsy and God is using him to change believers, increase our faith and draw us closer to Him. The only "fear" we should have is a healthy fear of an awesome God. But we can have "concern" regarding what we all appear to be facing fairly soon. But then its back to God's faithfulness... when and if that really bad time comes... whatever it may be.... then God will show up and He will give each of us the grace, strength, peace and wisdom to endure what it is at the time it occurrs. Thank you Lord for YOUR faithfulness and wisdom. :)