Faith and Economic Uncertainty

As the Dow fell another 500+ points earlier this week, despite the various government maneuvers to stop the slide, I found myself wondering how faith as we're talking about it addresses things like potentially severe economic downturns.

And the best I could come up with was that it all boils down, as so many things do, to the conversational relationship with God that we spend so much time discussing.  Does God have any encouragement for you and me as we read the newspapers each day or consider our 401(k) or kids' college funds? 

In my case, you'll be happy, I'm sure, to know, he has.  Some years back when Grace and I were living well below the poverty line and were hoping to start a family but unsure how that could be possible financially, I took a long walk to pray about it.  God seemed to chill me out on my financial worries, saying something like, "Dave, if you just do the simple things the Bible discusses about money, I'll always give you all the money you need.  And, if your church does the same, I'll give it all the money it needs too."

I went home that day armed only with that encouragement.  We were pregnant--and nervous--within the month.  About a month after that, we had a substantial surprise windfall.  And we--and our church--have been well-provided for since, against some substantive odds (to my mind), if with the occasional this-could-get-tense moment.

As the Dow dropped 750 points last week, I went back to God on a similar note.  Should I be concerned?  And my sense was that God was not about to tell me what to think about the country's short-term economic future.  But as to the immediate question of would my family and our church get through this, God seemed to call me back to that prayer time those many years back.  "Have I let you down on what I promised then?" he seemed to ask.  And clearly, no, he hadn't.  Things had gone astoundingly well since then.  "Well then, why don't we assume the deal's still in place."  And, what do you know, that comforted me and I haven't thought about it since.

All to say, that's been my approach.  But have you faced any economic anxieties in this latest downturn?  How have you addressed them?  How has your faith factored into whatever you've done?  Does the Stage 4 distinction help you at all?