Chances are very good that you have personally felt some pain already from this economic slump. Is there a silver lining in the economic cloud hanging in the sky over us? I believe so.
The good news of a bad economy is…
(a) We have a better opportunity to search our hearts and really know if money is an idol in our lives (1 John 5.21).
(b) We have a greater opportunity to place our trust in the Lord to be our Provider and experience his faithfulness (Philippians 4.19).
(c) We have an opportunity to become more disciplined in our spending habits and thus become better stewards of that which God has entrusted to us (1 Corinthians 4.2).
(d) We may have the blessing of spending less on fulfilling our own desires, causing us to rethink our desires and get them more aligned with God’s (Psalm 37.4).
(e) Perhaps Christians who have gotten sucked into the false prosperity gospel (“God wants you to be rich”) will be forced to rethink the lies they are believing and return to a Biblical view of money and wealth (Proverbs 30.7-9).
(f) Families, being forced to spend less money on entertainment, will actually spend more time interacting with each other in meaningful conversation and play.
I am not making light of the real pain and suffering that comes from a bad economy. I recognize the pain of people being out of work, less money going to worthy charitable causes, less money being spent on worthwhile medical research, etc. But I believe God is sovereign and He can and will take the bad and make good of it. These are just a few of the ways I can see that happening. Can you think of any other ways?
soundoftruth.org 
The first thing that comes to my mind is that people are eating out less. The daily cross country closing of smaller fast food businesses is certainly proof of that. Not convinced, just ask the owner or manager of your favorite corner cafe or major restaurant chain if things haven’t slowed down drastically in the past year.
While I am really sorry for the loss of jobs at those places, I do know that more and more and more people are actually sitting down at the breakfast, lunch and dinner table to eat together-at home.
My wife and I are living proof of that ourselves. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you that I would go out and eat at the drop of a hat, and I’ll throw the hat on the floor.
That’s changed. I actually am being blessed by not only enjoying the wonderful meals that my wife cooks each day, by taking great pleasure in seeing her enjoying cooking and trying new recipes all the time.
I know that similar scenes are being played out across America. That is not a bad thing.
Excellent post.
Even as people are cutting back on spending (I read that but don’t actually know that it is true as there were a lot of people in Best Buy this weekend) and paying off debt (again, I don’t know if that is true but I have read it), the government is spending and borrowing at an astounding rate.