Here are 5 things I strongly suggest you do when you’re in the middle of a crisis.
Pray
Everyone experiences a crisis from time to time so the question is, what do you do when you’re in the middle of one? The most obvious answer is often the most overlooked one and that is to pray. Pour out your heart to God and tell Him what you feel. Yes, He already knows but it helps to be specific with what you are going through. He is more than willing to listen to you and help you through this time of crisis. I would also strongly suggest that you seek out the prayers of the saints too. Ask others to pray for you that you might know what to do and when to do it. God hears and answers our prayers but His timing is perfect, ours isn’t. The Devil’s in a hurry but God will often take His time to make sure that things work out according to His purpose. He might want us to examine our lives, to see if we have any unconfessed sin, or if we’re having difficulty with one of our relationships. We know for example that Peter wrote “husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered” (1st Pet 3:7) so we can hinder our prayers if we’re not in a right relationship with our spouse or with someone else. Jesus said “if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matt 5:23-24).
Trusting in God
Sometimes God desires for us to trust Him in a crisis. He would have you “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Prov 3:5-6) for “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7). Where is your trust? Is it in your pocketbook or checkbook ledger? It is in your job or your relationship? Maybe God wants you to trust Him more than trust in what you see with your eyes. Everything might look bleak but God sees it all. It might be a huge problem but to God, everything is small. Those who trust in God will never be disappointed. It was “To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame” (Psalm22:5). There is no better Person to place your trust in than the God Who made the heavens and the earth because He is not limited by time, space, or physical circumstances like we are.
Seek godly Counsel
Solomon once wisely wrote “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety” (Prov 11:14) and “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed” (Prov 15:22). Before you make plans in a crisis, know this; “Plans are established by seeking advice” (Prov 20:18a). Sometimes we are so close to the crisis that we can’t see any possible solution. It’s like the saying, you can’t see the forest for the trees, but a trusted, godly counselor or a trusted Christian friend may see things more objectively than you can since you’re likely to close to the problem. Never make quick decisions. Rarely is the solution found in a quick fix.
Seeing good out of Evil
When Joseph was unjustly treated by his brothers by being thrown into a pit and then sold into slavery only to be unfairly thrown into prison in Egypt, there is no evidence at all that Joseph ever complained. Instead, he continued to make the best of a bad situation and was trusted enough to be put in charge of the prisoners. Even when his release lingered, he never once complained or railed against God for being unfair. Joseph’s conclusion was a classic portrait of the sovereignty of God as he told his brothers, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Gen 50:20a) and so it was intended for good because of Joseph’s God-given ability to interpret the Pharaoh’s dream and by this, he saved millions of lives by storing grain for a future famine that hit Egypt for seven years. Paul thought along this same line when he wrote that “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).
Seek the Psalms
Fewer writes in the Bible saw more crisis than did David so I suggest you seek solace in the psalms for they give us a great perspective amidst the suffering we’re going through right now. In Psalm 34:17 it says “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles” and he wrote, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord” (Psalm 130:1) and the Lord heard and delivered him. So take the counsel of the psalmist and “With my voice I cry out to the Lord; with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord” (Psalm 142:1). I recommend Psalm 23, 34, 51, 103 and whichever ones are your favorite. The Book of Psalms gives us literal prayers that we can pray back to God.
Conclusion
I hope this can help you deal with your own personal or family crisis, whatever it might be. We all experience crisis’ from time to time and when we do we can pray to God and pour out our hearts to Him; we can trust God and know that He will never leave us or forsake us; we can seek godly counsel from trusted Christian friends; we can know that God can use evil for good; and we can find solace in the Word of God and specifically in the Book of Psalms.
Article by Pastor Jack Wellman
