Stocks fall, soar on “fake news,” then fall again

The Bible tells us, “Do not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:6). If you think this seems especially hard to do these days, you’re not alone. Stocks ended lower again yesterday after a tumultuous day. The Dow plunged 1,700 points, then suddenly surged to a gain of nearly 900 points following a false rumor that President Trump was considering a ninety-day pause on his tariffs. After the White House labeled this “fake news,” stocks turned back down. Mr. Trump then threatened to raise tariffs further against China.

Reciprocal tariffs begin tomorrow, with China’s retaliatory tariffs set for Thursday. No one knows what the rest of the week holds.

All of this has a cumulative force that outweighs even the individual parts. The Wall Street Journal writes: “No American president has disrupted so many aspects of the nation’s daily life as President Trump has in less than three months in office. . . . He has moved with astonishing speed to enact an immigration crackdown, cut the federal workforce, and demolish federal agencies.”

The writers note that Mr. Trump is doing what he said he would on the campaign trail and that aspects of his agenda, including deportations, have broad public support. However, they add that “the collective impact has been dizzying for many.” Scientific American agrees, reporting that the cumulative news of recent weeks is “posing a very real mental health threat that people may need new skills to manage.”

We can feel like an astronaut untethered in space, hoping we can navigate to safety before our oxygen runs out. Or we can take a stuffed animal with us to sleep: 21 percent of “plush toys” sold last year were to adults over the age of eighteen.

I’d like to suggest a different “new skill,” one I am finding to be empowering and joyful.

A painting I could never paint

I spent some time yesterday sitting on a bench next to a lake in our neighborhood. This has become my favorite spot for meditation. Monday morning was especially beautiful: the trees are leafed out and reflected on the calm surface of the water. Birds were singing around me. The scene seemed like a postcard to rival one from Vermont, the Smoky Mountains, or other favorite sites of mine over the years.

And yet it was not enough.

My words are insufficient for what I felt, and that is part of the problem. I sensed the need to preserve the experience in photos and words, but they cannot do it justice.

What I really wanted was for this to be my home, not a place I visit. I don’t mean that I wanted to build a house at this spot so I could see it more often. That would be better, but not enough.

Here’s the real problem: This place has a beauty I do not have in myself. There is a purity, a peace, a symmetry and a purpose here that I do not possess. It is like a painting I can admire but could never paint myself, a song I love to hear but could never sing.

It has been this way at every memorable place I have ever visited in the world. The most spectacular sunrise over the Sea of Galilee or sunset over the Pacific Ocean is somehow not enough. My soul always feels that there is more.

This did not seem to be true of the birds and turtles and trees I could see around me as I sat on the bench. I did not perceive that they were anything but what they are made to be, doing what they were made to do.

It is me who feels like an “exile” in a land that is not my home.

And that’s a good thing.

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you”

If this world were enough, it would mean that I was made for this world and nothing else. And that would be bad news, indeed.

On our fallen planet, there will always be another natural disaster, another financial worry, another political battle. Even when we take a few minutes to sit on a bench beside a lake, we will never find there the peace we long to know.

But if we use creation to focus on the Creator, we can say with David, “O Lᴏʀᴅ, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:9). When we use our fears to turn to God in faith, we can pray, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you” (Psalm 56:3). And we can testify, “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul” (Psalm 94:19).

When we name our anxieties and then “let your requests be known to God,” he promises: “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6–7). He does not promise that our problems will disappear. But he does assure us that his peace will “guard” (the Greek word means to “keep watch and protect”) our “hearts” (emotions) and “minds” (thoughts) “in Christ Jesus.”

This world was never intended to satisfy our souls. But it was intended to lead us to the only One who can.

“Draw near to the throne of grace”

We can expect much more bad news in the news. Not only because bad news sells, but because for “secular” (literally, “of this age”) people, this world is all they have. Diseases that threaten our bodies, disasters that threaten our homes, and stock market downturns that threaten our finances are existential threats if our bodies, homes, and finances are all that we believe to exist.

But if we are people who follow Jesus in every aspect of our lives (the meaning of “disciples”), we know that none of that is true. We know that our bodies are temporary (2 Corinthians 5:1), our home is not in this world (John 14:2–3), and our finances are but a temporal means to eternal purposes (1 Timothy 6:17–19).

This does not make disease, disaster, and downturns any less painful in the moment, of course. But it does mean that we can use fear to choose faith. We can trust the Great Physician with our health, the Creator with our disasters, the King of kings with our finances. 

And we can remember that Jesus has been where we are, felt what we feel, hurt as we hurt, and now prays for us from his throne in glory (Romans 8:34). Accordingly,

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

Richard of Chichester (1195–1253) prayed:

Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits thou hast given me, for all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me. O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day.

Will you make his prayer yours today?

Quote for the day:

“Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; ’tis grace has brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.” —John Newton

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