Along with the human toll of the coronavirus, especially in China, (see yesterday’s story from my daughter who lives in Dalian), there is a huge worldwide problem in manufacturing. Fortune Magazine reported on February 21 that 94% of the Fortune 1000 are seeing coronavirus supply chain disruptions. I don’t know all the details, but I do know that most things that come into my house are “made in China.” And now China isn’t making anything. 

It seems that today’s manufacturers have forgotten a basic principle that goes at least back to King Solomon’s day:

Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. (Ecclesiastes 11.2, ESV)

The verse is most often applied to investments: diversify your stock portfolio, for example. It could also apply to income streams: if you’re an independent contractor, try to have more than one client! But what about the means of manufacturing or even sources of supply? If they all come from the same country, and that country is knocked out of commission…

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring… (James 4.13, 14, ESV)