Thoughts from a Roller Coaster

Roller coasters never thrilled me. I was very content to just sit on the bench and watch everyone else scream and get their brains rattled. Give me the "lazy river" where I can sit in an inner-tube raft and drift down the stream with my eyes closed and my mind enjoying the quiet. Ah, that was excitement for me. On the other hand, my wonderful wife always enjoyed the heart-pounding, teeth-rattling, bone-jarring rides on the coasters. She preferred risks over serenity.

So you can guess how I am feeling now as we traverse the slow upswings and the precipitous drops in the economy. I want to get off. I want my quiet "lazy river" ride. But the coaster ride seems to just continue unabated. To get off now, as one friend told me recently, would be to commit financial suicide. I knew there was something else I didn't like about roller coasters...they can be life-threatening. And so, along with many others, I recheck my seatbelt and grip more firmly the crash-bar (I find that a very interesting name, by the way) and try to not scream as another drop appears on the horizon.

Hey, I thought this bailout of Wall Street investment firms and major banking centers was suppose to at least slow down the roller coaster. Maybe I am off base (I never purported to be an expert on the economy...I was glad for high school economics being a pass-fail class) but it seems to me that since the bailout the roller coaster has gotten faster and the drops occur more often and are steeper. Am I the only one who feels this way? We...that is you and I, the taxpayers...gave huge sums of money to both AIG and to GM. I cannot even comprehend what a billion dollars is like. Now both AIG and GM want even more. Let's see, who else is waiting in line for my tax dollar and for yours? There are local and state government. Then there are retail giants whose sales have slumped greatly. Then there are small business owners who are closing stores and shops by scores every day. Oh, and don't forget about schools and colleges and universities. Yesterday, one of my Board members said that he wrote a Christmas letter this year and sent a copy to Santa Claus and to Barack Obama. He hoped one of them would respond to his Christmas wish.

Perhaps I am getting a bit cynical. Please forgive me. But things seem to be getting out of control, at least from my perspective. But not from God's. In fact, this is all part of His plan. It is part of the preparation for the entrance of the King of kings and the Lord of lords onto the world's stage. Perhaps, through this severe economic time, God is inviting Christians to ask themselves: "Have you put more importance upon your 401(k)s and your retirement plans than you have upon Me? Do you have a greater passion for your things than you have for Me?" I recently reread from Matthew 6. There Jesus issues this challenge: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (that is to earnestly endeavor to put God first and to have a relationship with Him), and all these things - clothes, food, drink, shelter, etc. - will be added unto you." These are sobering questions as I ride the coaster.

I have been assured by many that the roller coaster ride will slow down and even stop some day. That is good news for those of us who prefer something more serene. But, the great news is that God wants to teach us something while we are riding the ups and downs. And I want a teachable heart, a discerning mind, and an obedient spirit.