Out of curiosity, what do you do when you find yourself in a personal crisis? Do you freak out? Retreat deep into yourself? Immediately call a few friends and spill your guts? Do you find yourself anxious, scared, or overwhelmed?
Most of us have probably tried several if not all of these approaches to a crisis.
Maybe there’s a different way?
We don’t choose crisis but we can choose our response to it. And while I fully realize we can’t always change our circumstances, what if instead of waiting until a crisis is upon us (because inevitably, crises will come), we decided in advance what our response would be?
When in crisis, we must choose our focus carefully because it’s impossible to focus on two opposite things at the same time. Both are real but one is a higher reality, and you will need to choose. Here are some examples:
- Faith or fear
- God’s goodness or bad circumstances
- Peace or anxiety
- God’s abundant provision or your lack
- Thanksgiving or complaining
- Your failure or His grace and mercy
- God’s word or the enemies lies
I want to suggest that we focus upon things that are founded in something eternal and unshakable.
Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. 29 For our God is a devouring fire. (Hebrews 12:28 NLT)
Becoming Steadfast and Immovable
The Scripture tells us to be steadfast and immovable (see 1 Corinthians 15:58) but how do we do that?
As children of God, Christ has made everything accessible to us. We are sons and daughters with an inheritance. In other words, everything that belongs to Christ belongs to us (see Romans 8:17). If that’s the case, how do we access our inheritance?
Though you can’t earn anything from God, you can receive it from Him.
Your part is to know your inheritance (the Bible tells us), believe it, and receive it by faith.
Peace that passes understanding.
Perfect love for fear.
Provision for lack.
Healing for sickness.
We must retrain ourselves to think as He thinks in the midst of crisis, and we do that by renewing and renovating our minds according to His promises (see Romans 12:1-2)
I like what Bill Johnson said, “You know your mind is renewed when the impossible seems logical.”
God can’t renew your mind for you, but He will empower you to take a promise and dwell on it until it becomes your new reality.
A Personal Crisis
Recently we found ourselves in a deep financial crisis. As missionaries for the past fifteen years, this wasn’t the first time we’ve faced this, and yet at times, I still freak out! But the Lord often uses trials to perfect and mature us. Over the years, I realized I was asking the wrong question in a crisis, which was probably why I never received an answer! I was asking God, “Why is this happening?” It’s not that God isn’t concerned about my circumstance, it’s just that He is usually more concerned about what’s happening inside my heart than what’s happening around me.
So, a number of years back, out of desperation, I asked God a different question. I said,
God, I don’t know what’s going on around me, but can you please tell me what are you trying to do inside of me?
To my surprise, He answered me! He took me to a verse of Scripture that described exactly what He was doing on the inside. It didn’t change the circumstances, but it changed me! I was able to move forward with hope knowing I was in His process and that the end of that process was for my good!
Circumstances can change, but we often have no control over when, how or why. The only thing we truly have control over is our response. If we position ourselves before God and invite Him to work in us, He is able to mold us and shape us through the process.
We Fight FROM Victory, Not FOR Victory
When we find ourselves in a crisis, it’s important to remember that Christ has already won the war. He said “It is finished.” He has already disarmed Satan (see Col. 2:15). If you’ve surrendered to His lordship, you are now seated with Him in heavenly places, far above principalities and powers (see Eph. 2:6).
In other words, because you are in Christ, and He is far above demonic powers, so are you!
That means we are fighting FROM victory not FOR victory.
During this last financial crisis, I said, “Jesus, you’ve already won this war, so what is our strategy for victory?”
And He said, “My strategy is praise!”
Could it really be that simple, I asked? Well, it was in this example:
After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:
“Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!”
22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. (2 Chronicles 20:21-22 NLT)
So, that’s exactly what we did. We praised Him every chance we had. Right in the middle of the storm. Although the breakthrough took several months and came at the midnight hour, God came through! As the saying goes,
It sometimes takes God a long time to move suddenly.
Remember friends, God’s ways are not the ways of this world. He uses simple and foolish things to confound the wise. It makes no sense to our logical and rational minds, but it’s actually a radical act of faith and trust to obey the voice of the Lord when it seems to run contrary to our circumstances.
Preparing for Crisis
Crisis is a certainty but our response is not. Did you know you can prepare your heart before a crisis comes? This isn’t doom and gloom thinking, this is reality! Here’s how:
- Have a daily habit of reading and obeying His word and abiding in His presence. If you fill your heart with the promises of God, when you face a crisis, that’s what will come out!
- Pre-decide in your heart that God is good and He is always working everything out for your good (Romans 8:28).
- Meditate on your identity in Christ. Download a whole page of Scripture-based confessions at the end of this blog post.
And when the crisis comes:
- Go to God first, pour out your heart, and find out what His written word says about your problem.
- Spend time in His presence to hear His voice and get His perspective. Ask Him about His strategy for victory in this situation.
- Focus less on the circumstance and ask Him what He is trying to do inside of you.
- Invite people into your crisis to pray with and for you.
Of course, none of this means we will respond perfectly in crisis, but the more we know Him, the less we will react out of our own fear and insecurity when the storm comes.
We don’t know what life may bring, but we can pre-decide how we are going to handle crisis when it comes.
Is there ONE THING listed above you could focus on in order to prepare or better handle crisis?
