THE CRISIS IS SOMETHING NORMAL, WE SHOULD NOT BE AFRAID OF IT
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word crisis as; "a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events is determined." Obviously the crisis is very important. It is a turning point that determines our future.
The crisis is a period of transition during which we leave one situation in order to enter a new one. It is a change of one stable condition with another.
The leaving and entering is a natural part in every sphere of our life. Just think how many times a day you pass through a door. In order to come in a room you have to pass through a door. Every morning you leave the bedroom and enter the bathroom. Then you leave your home and enter your working place, or shop, or something else. Every pass through a door has two phases - leaving the place in front of the door and entering the place behind the door. In the same way we pass through doors we pass through the different situations in our life. Going out and coming in - this is our life. The time between the moment of leaving one place or stable situation and the moment of entering a new place or stable situation is that period of crisis.
For example your church had a pastor. Now it is without a pastor. But time will come when it is going to have a new and a better pastor. The period during which your church is without pastor is a time of crisis.
THE GOOD NEWS: GOD HAS PROMISED US BLESSING IN THE MIDST OF OUR CRISIS
When we pass through a crisis we should know that God has promised us blessing in it! The good news is that God has promised that He will guard and protect us during the time of this crisis. Psalm 121:8 says:
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
When we travel we are in a crisis. We have left the safe place of our home in order to enter the door of our destination. During this time of crisis some accident can happen. But the Lord has promised that He will preserve us from every evil. Praise God! In Psalm 91:8-12 it is written:
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling-
even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
What I want to say is that God will preserve your church during its time of crisis! Amen!
God has promised not only to protect us during a crisis but also to bless us into the crisis. His will for us is that we would be blessed in the crisis. In Deuteronomy 28:6 He said:
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
There is one whole book of the Bible that is dedicated to the leaving - its name is "Exodus". To go out is something normal. And if we go out of some stable condition we inevitably enter a crisis. Then I want to ask you: Is it possible for a person or a church to be in a crisis and in the same time to be in the will of God? Yes. The crisis is something normal, and actually when we are in the middle of the crisis we grow up most.
THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE
In order to pass successfully through a crisis we should look in perspective to its ultimate goal. In order to perceive the crisis as something normal we should look at it from God’s point of view and see it in His perspective. We must not see just the down-part. This is very dangerous. We must also see the up-part of the crisis. We should see its ultimate purpose, and its end! May be you know that the Chinese word-symbol for "crisis" is a combination of two other symbols - those for "danger" and "opportunity." So, when you are confronted with a crisis do not see just the danger. See also the opportunity!
God never brings us out of something just to put us in a crisis. If God takes us out of somewhere certainly it is with the purpose to bring us in something much better! Psalm 66:8-12 says:
8 Praise our God, O peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard;
9 he has preserved our lives
and kept our feet from slipping.
10 For you, O God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.
11 You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.
12 You let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.
You see our road can pass through a crisis. And God can cause this crisis. But God never leaves us into the crisis. He always brings us into a broad and wealthy place. He will do the same for you!
God did not brought Israel out of Egypt in order to kill them in the desert. He brought them out of the land of slavery in order to bring them into the land of freedom - a land that was their own property and their own inheritance, a "land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:7-10; Deuteronomy 6:23).
But before God could bring Israel into the Promised Land, He had to bring them out of Egypt. And in order to enter into the Promised Land, the Israelites had to pass through the desert. The desert is the crisis.
And it is very important how we look at the crisis. Are we looking to the crisis as a way to the glory or as a grave place where we should die? If we look to the crisis with pessimism, this can hinder us from leaving it. The old generation of Israelites died in the desert because in one definite moment they did not see the way out (Numbers 11:5-6; 14:1-4):
14 That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" 4 And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt."
In this moment the children of Israel had turned their eyes down from their goal. They did not see the crisis in perspective. And this attitude killed them.
Joshua and Caleb also passed through a crisis, but they entered the Promised Land because they never turned their eyes down from God’s goal for them (Numbers 14:6-8).
6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.
So, we should understand that the crisis is something inevitable and something irreversible. The best thing we can do when we are in it is to overcome it and outlive it! And we can do this only by looking to its ultimate goal. There is no way back! God’s pattern for leaving crisis is not to escape from it, but enter in the new and better place that He has prepared for us!
THE CONDITION OF OUR HEART
Crucial for passing through a crisis is the condition of our heart.
The crisis actually is transition from one situation to another. And the most important issue in this passage is what we are carrying in our heart. The way we go out of the old situation determines the way we will go into the next one. We can leave our old life, old circumstances and our old ring of people behind us. All of them can remain far away behind our back. But there is one thing that we cannot leave - and this is our own spirit.
What is in it will determine how we are going to outlive our crisis. And not only will this, but the condition of our heart will set up the matrix or skeleton of our new circumstances and environment. If we leave our old situation with wounded spirit, bitterness, hostility, resentment, unforgiveness, fatalistic attitude, depression, unbelief, pride, and skepticism, then we will transfer these as seeds into the new place and situation where we pass.
If we do not cope with these seeds during our crisis, when we enter into the new situation and in the new place we will unconsciously sow them there again. And not long after it they will produce the same fruits that we left behind us. This will lead to a repetition of our old crisis - one more circle in the desert.
The roots of our problems are not in our circumstances or our environment, but in the seeds we have sown and we now continue to sow in our own spirit. If we want to overcome our problems, then we should change our heart. Proverbs 4:23 says:
23 Above all else (more than anything else), guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
So, do not sow the seeds of the past into the new fields of relationships! Forgive the person that has hurt you. Remember that the unforgiveness always closes the doors. It stops friendships, and blocks connections, and possibilities. When you keep unforgiveness in your heart toward somebody, this will isolate you and will stop some of the biggest sources of blessing that otherwise will flow into your life. The spirit of unforgiveness will come out of your spirit to others, and will make them to be closed to you.
From the other side, the forgiveness opens the relationships. If you want to open the way to spiritual success in your life then you must forgive or ask for forgiveness.
Remember that the crucial thing for passing through a crisis is the condition of your heart. When we pass through a crisis, it is a time to believe in God’s sovereignty, provision, and providence. From first to the last chapter in the Bible God reveal Himself to as a God of purpose, order, plan, intension, and design. Everything he does has its divine meaning, logic, and significance.
A WAY FOR LEAVING OUT
In our life sometimes we are confronted with situations for which we do not have a reasonable answer. Things happen to us that we do not understand, and that we cannot explain. We expect something, and something else comes out on our way. Sometimes it seems to us that we are wandering in a labyrinth (maze) from which we cannot get out. We think that we hardly can find out an exit from this horrible situation of ours.
In such a moment, if we do not know God we would lay down arms and we will refuse to continue our fight. But if we believe in God, and know him well enough, we would know that He has provided a way to victory. God continue to be in control during our time of crisis. He has prepared a way for leaving it out. And even if it seems to us that we are in total hopelessness, we would still be sure that He will intervene supernaturally in our situation, will lift us up, and will put our feet on the rock.
In 1 Corinthians 10:13 it is written:
13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Praise God for His faithfulness! He will not allow a crisis in our life, and our church, that we cannot survive. But together with the crisis will also make a way to escape! His name is Jehovah-jireh - God who provides and supplies, God Who is looking to our situation, and takes care for us. Often He does this in the last and critical moment, but He never leaves us!
DEAR GOD, OPEN OUR EYES SO WE MAY SEE, PLEASE!
God has a way out in each situation. If we fail to see it doesn’t mean that this way out does not exist. We must pray that God may open our eyes, so that we may see His way out or the answer He is providing for the problem we have. The situation of Elisha who prayed for his servant Gehazi was very much the same (2 Kings 6:8-17). Gehazi was confused when the Syrian army had surrounded their city (v.15-17):
15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.
16 "Don’t be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
17 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
The horses and chariots of fire stood there - this was the answer for the crisis they had been involved in. Gehazi, though, didn’t see them and that was why he was frustrated. However Elisha knew that God is in control. And please notice that his prayer was not for solving the problem but to open the eyes of the "blinded", so that he could see the way out God had already given them in their crisis situation. So, we should also pray to God to open our eyes to see the way out that He has prepared for us!
Let thank God for His good plan and purpose for His children. In His sovereignty He will provide salvation for us and will make us victorious.
Last updated 10.7.2004
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