When the earth goes topsy-turvy...

Today: Psalm 74-77

There have been a lot of things in the past few years that have made people shake their heads and wonder, "What in the world is going on?!?"

One of those moments happened last week on May 6 when the Dow Jones Industrial Average suddenly dropped nearly 1,000 points. I've heard from people who are the experts--traders, economists and savvy people in the financial industry who basically scratched their heads and said, "We didn't know exactly what was going on. No one knew why the sudden drop happened..."

This is one example of a moment of uncertainty when people had no clue why things happened the way they did. It's an example that may seem dramatic--but it's far from a sudden diagnosis or a job loss or a tragic death that seems completely inexplicable. Those are life-altering moments most of us just don't understand.

That's why I found this Psalm (one of Asaph's) reassuring. Take a look:

We thank you, God, we thank you—

your Name is our favorite word;

your mighty works are all we talk about.

You say, "I'm calling this meeting to order,

I'm ready to set things right.

When the earth goes topsy-turvy

And nobody knows which end is up,

I nail it all down,

I put everything in place again.

I say to the smart alecks, 'That's enough,'

to the bullies, 'Not so fast.'"

I don't know about you, but I have what I call "freak-out moments" (they're rare, but they happen...even though I might look cool as a cucumber on the surface!). Usually my freak-out moments have to do with stuff that's pretty small in the grand scheme of things--work stress or the (good?) kind of freak-outs when I'm just plain nervous to talk to a cute guy or try something new. I love that God sees and knows it all--and more than that, He can calm me down, give me wisdom and He puts things into place (so I don't have to worry about taking charge of everything myself!).

P.S. Something that may help you put things in perspective about the economy? Guess how many stocks and companies are represented by the Dow Jones Industrial Average? Just guess...

What did you think?

3,000?

1,000?

500?

100?

You'd be wrong. The answer?

30.

That's not a typo. Media personalities yell and scream and cause thousands of people to go into freak-out panic mode because of the ups and downs in 30 companies....out of the thousands of companies around the world. Crazy. Sometimes before you break out into freak-out mode, it helps to have the facts. And a major dose of faith, too. I'm just sayin'... :)

Tomorrow: Psalm 78-79