Are You Drowning in Inflation?

The above is NOT our house.

But it could be, if the economy doesn’t turn around in the next couple of years. Political pundits claim we are in the midst of record job growth and an economic boom. I’m not sure I buy it. I find that the current inflationary problem is devastating the average American middle class family.

Recent data revealed consumer prices are up 7.5% from the same time last year. Inflation is at its highest point in 40 years. The cost of food, electricity and gasoline are soaring, forcing many families to make painful cuts in their already tight budgets. Let’s first address the 7.5% increase.

That’s bull.

Based upon our family budget, the inflationary rate is much higher. The groceries that cost us $200/week last year, now cost us $350 to $400/week. That’s a 75% to 100% increase, a far cry from 7.5%. In my state, gas prices averaged $2.07 in January 2021. Today, I noticed gas jumped to $3.29 in my neck of the woods. That’s a 59% increase. Two days ago, we received notice from our electric company that our monthly bill was jumping from $199 per month to $240 per month. This is a 21% jump. Our heating costs have skyrocketed and so have our property taxes.

I would be excited if it was only a 7.5% increase.

Even the local Dollar Tree, known for every item in the store being $1 or less, now charges $1.25. That’s a 25% leap. People count on places like Dollar Tree to buy things cheaply. The buck-and-a-quarter tree will eat into the budgets of people living on a fixed income.

On paper, our family’s drowning…

My wife and I have been blessed with six children. This is the first time in our married life (27 years), that we have truly felt a financial burden. And in looking at our budget, there’s not much we can change. Sadly, the situation will only grow worse with the world on the cusp of World War III.

But there is good news found in the pages of God’s Word.

The Bible shares the following promises:

“My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19, KJV)

25 “Therefore, I say to you, don’t worry about your life, what you’ll eat or what you’ll drink, or about your body, what you’ll wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t sow seed or harvest grain or gather crops into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are? 27 Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Notice how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t wear themselves out with work, and they don’t spin cloth. 29 But I say to you that even Solomon in all of his splendor wasn’t dressed like one of these. 30 If God dresses grass in the field so beautifully, even though it’s alive today and tomorrow it’s thrown into the furnace, won’t God do much more for you, you people of weak faith? 31 Therefore, don’t worry and say, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ 32 Gentiles long for all these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 Instead, desire first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore, stop worrying about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:25–34, Common English Bible)

These verses remind me of the providing nature of my Father in Heaven. My family can’t financially handle this “7.5%” inflation rate.

But God can.

How are you coping with inflated costs?

(Appeared first on Medium at https://medium.com/p/c1bb9993d38f