Tuesday's Small Groups

This week our small group was discussing going through difficult times and why God allows His people to suffer. The apostle Paul speaks of having a thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7) which God wouldn’t take away. James writes, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” (James 1:2-3). We are made stronger when we go through difficult times. It produces character, patience, endurance, and hope. It isn’t pleasant at the time, but the lessons learned from hard times makes us who we are (Hebrews 12:11).

From this lesson we began looking at the economy and the situation not only our country but the world is going through. After examining what we know, it was easy to see what has brought us into this mess: greed.

Banks became greedy when they began giving out loans to people without first verifying if the loans could be paid off. Rather than qualifying borrowers based on the mortgage they were offering, they approved them, then advised, “Come back in three years and we’ll refinance your loan at a lower fixed rate.” Now, banks can’t afford to refinance. Why? Because people are defaulting on those very loans they couldn’t pay off. They’re losing jobs, losing homes, and the banks are losing money. All because they wanted to make more money.

Are the borrowers to blame? Certainly! My husband and I purchased our home in 2000. Prices were still moderate at the time, though the climb had already started. Still, we were able to buy our brand spanking new 1700 square foot home for less that $145,000. As home values started rising, my husband commented that we could sell our home, make a substantial profit, and purchase a bigger, better home. I prayed about this, and God showed me what kind of debt we’d be getting ourselves into. Taxes would be triple what we were currently paying, our insurance would skyrocket, and our mortgage would probably be twice what we were paying on our current house. I prayed some more before showing my hubby the numbers. Thankfully he, like me, thought this was insanity and we were just fine where we were. Unfortunately many homeowners didn’t see it this way. They had fine homes, but they wanted bigger, more amenities, more upgrades, more modern, which in turn means more expensive. When the banks offered adjustable rate mortgages and promised they could refinance in 3-5 years, their judgment was clouded by their desire to have more, and homeowners got themselves into debt higher than they could afford. Add to that the increase in our gas prices and the general cost of living increase that accompanied it, and there are now families losing their homes by the hundreds. This isn’t something to be taken lightly. For most American families, their home is the largest investment they own. Losing a home cripples not only the family but, as we now see, our entire economy. All because it wasn’t enough. All because of greed.

My prayer now is that, as people experience this hardship, they will realize what went wrong, and instead of turning to politicians to fix the problems in the economy, they will look at their own life and learn to be content with what God has given us. Because the truth of the matter is, Americans are extremely blessed to live in a free country. Our homes are larger than anywhere. We have food, clothing, hospitals and medicines. Many people around the world don’t have a tenth of what America has, yet they live more content than Americans do. We need to look at our lives and shift our priorities. What’s most important in your life?