The power of the tongue

I don’t think there has been a time this year where controversy is raging so high about the direction of the economy and the stock market. One spokesman on CNBC last night called the end of the recession. Yet there are plenty of newsletters and website blogs by economists and traders who differ sharply in opinions. Some are bearish on the market, claiming the economy is far from exiting the recession and the worst may not be over. Some economists and traders believe the March lows in the stock market will not only be retested but the markets may decline further than the March lows. They believe what we have witnessed the past months is simply a suckers’ rally, a bear market rally. On the other hand, there are those who believe the worst of the global economic crisis is behind us and so it the worst of the stock market deterioration. That we might even be at the birth site of a baby bull market.

I was reading Proverbs today. The verses about what we say caught my attention.

The mouth of the righteous is a well of life
Prov 10:11 (NKJV)

There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health.
Prov 12:18 (NKJV)

Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.
Prov 16:24 (NKJV)

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
Prov 25:11 (NKJV)

And probably the one that has been most frequently quoted by those who have a desire to speak words of creative healing and improvement to a situation is:

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Prov 18:21 (NKJV)

I am not a “name it and claim it” “word faith” advocate. I trust I’m not an ostrich hiding my head in the sand. But in the above verses I find a challenge to speak creative life and power from the Lord, since the tongues of believers do have great power, much as Jesus spoke life and power which effected healing to those who came to Him. Believers can effect change by prayer and speaking out the grace-filled intentions of the Lord… which actually might be plans for building up and restoring the US economy.

James warned of what the tongue could do if misused:
4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.
James 3:4-12 (NKJV)

Of course, there is always a need for warnings when disaster is really approaching. Many warned over the last couple of years but few listened. Perhaps the warnings about a shock to the economy and market to take it down to 6,000 or even 5,000 are valid and I’m deaf right now. But even if more disaster is approaching, why not tell the storm to die down as Jesus did? Is it so crazy to use our tongues and faith to thwart the possibility of further bad things? I’m praising God that some of the corruption in both the financial systems as well as individuals (Madoff, Stanford, megabonuses to terribly performing execs) have been getting exposed. I think it’s fabulous! I want more exposures to happen even while the economy is landing and stabilizing like the airplane landing in the frigid Hudson with no casualties.

I was grateful to the Lord to provide some buying opportunities recently in some high dividend close-end funds - I personally invested in Alpine Total Dynamic Dividend Fund - AOD - with yield of 19% (7.59) and Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Global Diversified Equity Income Fund - EXG - with yield of 17.9% (10.63). I have invested in Hercules Technology Growth Capital - HTGC - since January 2009 and increased my position through the February and March declines. HTGC's current yield is 14.5% (8.20). AOD and EXG will pull back if the market pulls back (their NAVs loosely track the market). But they should also pay me in the double digits in the meantime so I can sleep without worrying about market fluctuations as various tongues, mine included, remain in controversy and prophesy various futures.