WHAT if you opened your newspaper and saw that Jesus had held a press conference on the economy? Would you want to read on to learn what he had said?

In a literal sense, of course this is not possible. But Jesus did get his message across, by teaching that God cares for every detail of our lives. He showed that because each of us is the child of God, we have a divine birthright to all that He provides— that we can trust that God will meet all our needs.

The true laws of the economy of a nation, a community, or an individual, Jesus implied, are not governed by capricious human circumstances or luck, but by a steadfast and unchanging divine law of supply and demand, God meeting all of our needs. If Jesus held a press conference, and someone asked him what to do about the economy, he might say that as we are faced by a need or demand, we can turn to God in prayer, confident that He can supply whatever we need. We can trust that God will provide for us as He sees fit, and that provision may come in the form of a new or inspiring idea, a person, or a situation that helps us.

Our human solutions for creating a steady economy and meeting economic challenges are temporary; they tend to benefit some, but not all, people. These solutions take as a given that one can be flush one day and wanting the next. To have God's constant provision, we need a higher, spiritual perspective to rely on for economic confidence. Jesus said: "Neither be ye of doubtful mind. . . . your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things [food, shelter, and clothing]. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:29-32).

Clearly, Jesus recognized that people do feel that they have human needs. But he said that the solution to attaining what we need is not primarily through working harder or pinching pennies, and never through coveting, fretting, or stealing. Rather, it is to recognize that God provides us with what we need, because it is God's plan—and "good pleasure"—to do so.

God is spiritual, never material. His resources are unlimited. He is the creator of everything. An understanding that God is Spirit reveals that God is always giving us ideas. These spiritual ideas provide the direction and confidence necessary to solve even tough economic problems.

So it's likely that if Jesus held a press conference, he'd say we do not have to accept a lack of anything, whether that lack involves economic stability, health, relationships, or anything else. Since God is the creator of all there is, then the provision we're looking for must be infinite and available to all of God's creation.

The economy, like time, is subjective in origin, but people often choose to objectify it in their daily lives. They make it real in their thinking. As they do with time, they let the economy bully and push them around day after day. But twice a year at least, they show time that it is subjective—by moving the clock ahead to daylight saving time and then six months later back to standard time. If time is essentially a mental construct—although it seems so concrete—could the same be true for the economy: Can it be changed within our own thinking?

Jesus consistently showed the supremacy of spiritual ideas over materiality. Like him, we can trust God and the spiritual ideas He gives, rather than having to rely only on the limited strategies the world offers. Jesus showed more than 2,000 years ago that we can let God the Father do what He does so well—take care of us—and that the economy, and the provision we can expect within that economy, is essentially spiritual. If he were here today, I believe he'd be telling us we don't have to be afraid of the economy.