Praise God in a down economy? You kidding?

1 Peter 1

Praise to God for a Living Hope

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

OK OK - so I have a problem. I'm normal. You in the black chair - stop laughing. I AM!

I, just like you, have a tendency to feel that I need to be making money, paying my bills, getting ahead, saving for retirement, keeping my cars well maintained, recycling, eating healthy, exercising, losing weight and all that. But God seems to think that this 'salvation of your souls' is somehow of greater worth than all that other stuff. So, He orchestrates our lives for the more valuable things. The things HE considers more valuable, that is. Because He loves us.

Go figure.