Getting from Bad News to Good News

Yesterday, President-elect Barack Obama warned that America's deficit this fiscal year will go over $1 trillion. This figure does not include his proposed spending programs that will add hundreds of additional billions of dollars to the problem.

I read these stories and ask, "Who is going to pay for all the money the government is printing?" Trust me, that is what is happening. Money is printed and put into circulation with the stroke of a pen. Treasury bills and bonds are issued to back this money but have to purchased by someone else. That "someone else" right now is China who already holds tons of American debt and cannot afford to let America, or the entire international monetary system, go under. But you know that one day China and other nations who finance America's debt will have had enough and stop buying the bonds. When that happens, who will help us?

I watch veteran observers report this news. You can see they do not understand what is happening or what will be the consequences. Nothing like it has happened in their lifetime. Indeed, none of our leaders in government have seen days like this—it is unprecedented. The normal economic solutions do not appear to be helping. No one knows where the bottom could be or when we might get there.

Yesterday, my financial adviser called to make some recommendations about my brokerage accounts. She told me she thought the stock market had reached bottom and would be going back up. As she spoke the market was dropping more than 250 points.

Now look at the Middle East. In the last days of 2008 the state of Israel launched a massive air and rocket attack on Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Israeli citizens have been suffering near daily rocket attacks from Hamas upon their towns and villages in southern Israel. Israel's defense forces have now moved into Gaza to put an end to these attacks and secure the region. Today comes news that rockets have fallen on northern Israel, indicating that another militant group, Hezbollah, has begun a second front against Israel. These battles continue to show the volatility of the region and the potential for major upheavals of governments and peoples.

Bible prophecy gives us much to understand about both these current problems. Our booklet The Middle East in Bible Prophecy gives you valuable background on the subject and helps put the current crisis in context. In the pages of World News and Prophecy we work each month to give you ongoing analysis of these events in light of Bible prophecy. We have written several articles over the past year about the global financial crisis.

The best and brightest minds seek solutions to these problems. Why can't lasting solutions be found? This is the question many are asking—no doubt many of you as well. It seems there is a spirit of confusion that prevents fair and right solutions from being found and implemented. Why is this?

The answer lies in understanding the depth of spiritual confusion that keeps people from seeing the way to God's solutions. This confusion comes from sin, the violation of God's eternal spiritual laws. We Americans have as a nation trampled these laws and ignored the true God. Oh, we are told we are a "Christian" nation and have a heritage of belief in God and the Bible. But those are false words that hide reality.

This morning I was reading of a time when God allowed a lying spirit to advise the leaders of ancient Israel and Judah as they plotted the actions of their nations. In 1 Kings 22:19-23 we are shown a scene at God's throne where He allows a lying spirit to go out and give false advice through the words of false prophets. The leaders would believe the lying spirit because they were immersed in a culture of deceit based on false religion, idolatry and sorcery. There was a spirit of confusion already in the land. They could not see their way forward through a crisis to a solution. In this case it ended in disaster for Ahab, the king of Israel.

Because our land is full of sorcery and we worship the work of our hands, God will eventually "cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds" (Micah 5:11).

This is a serious matter. It strikes to the heart of the headlines we see today. There is a reason for current problems. The problems are spiritual and that is why the normal physical solutions are not working. The lasting solutions are spiritual and involve turning our hearts back to the true God, seeking to know Him and walk in His ways. Unless and until that happens, America will continue along the path leading to a complete collapse of our power.

I have been going through this thought in my series of recent articles, "What Will the Next President Face?" 

Sometimes the best way to deal with bad news is through a frank and honest appraisal of reality. God's words give us the best measure of reality in a world of spiritual deception and confusion. Truth will always show us the light. In the end, that is the most encouraging news we can have.

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