"Crisis Help"
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
He rescues those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18
In the country of Laos during 2001, a true story unfolded around the life of one man, Hezekiah. His life had been so transformed by Jesus that he had to tell someone. When he returned to the village he grew up in, he told the thirty-five relatives and villagers who met him and demanded to know why he had converted to Christianity, “Jesus is the only way I can be saved from my sins. Jesus is the only way I can have eternal life.” They didn’t like this. As Hezekiah reasoned with them about the truths he had found studying God’s Word and being discipled by other believers in the safe haven he had left to bring them the Gospel, tempers began to flare. Suddenly someone lunged out and grabbed Hezekiah. Others followed. They dragged him to the ground and beat him until he blacked out. Then they left him in the street, bruised and bleeding.
Hezekiah eventually left his village and to this day is still not welcome either there or in his family’s homes. “As I have matured in my walk with Christ, I have more faith to endure these hardships. The trials I have gone through have served to strengthen my faith, as I see God’s faithfulness in delivering me. I thank God I have been able to bring thirty people to the saving knowledge of Jesus."
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View trials and crisis times as stepping stones
rather than stumbling blocks on your path of faith.
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Pain and grief are common denominators in life. All we control is how we respond to them. Learning how to master your crisis will keep your crisis from mastering you. Through Christ's glorious resurrection, he took the dread out of death, the gloom out of the grave, and pronounced death to be defeated. Expressing grief or pain in healthy and appropriate ways is the way to peace and healing. Unless grief or discouragement is expressed, it becomes an abscessed wound in the soul. The surface might heal over, but the infectious unexpressed emotions silently infiltrates.
When a personal crisis hits hope is the lifeline God uses to get us through to the other side. To hope is to feel the intangible, see the invisible, and achieve the impossible. It is to wait with expectancy. Hope is not connected to wishing, but having trust in God for a bright future. Hope compels us to take risks by entering uncomfortable situations with the possibility of failure unless God comes through. The person who feels powerless also feels hopeless and gives into despair. For despair steals the ability to dream. Hope is based on God's scriptural promises.
_________________________________________________
View trials and crisis times as stepping stones
rather than stumbling blocks on your path of faith.
_________________________________________________
Pain and grief are common denominators in life. All we control is how we respond to them. Learning how to master your crisis will keep your crisis from mastering you. Through Christ's glorious resurrection, he took the dread out of death, the gloom out of the grave, and pronounced death to be defeated. Expressing grief or pain in healthy and appropriate ways is the way to peace and healing. Unless grief or discouragement is expressed, it becomes an abscessed wound in the soul. The surface might heal over, but the infectious unexpressed emotions silently infiltrates.
When a personal crisis hits hope is the lifeline God uses to get us through to the other side. To hope is to feel the intangible, see the invisible, and achieve the impossible. It is to wait with expectancy. Hope is not connected to wishing, but having trust in God for a bright future. Hope compels us to take risks by entering uncomfortable situations with the possibility of failure unless God comes through. The person who feels powerless also feels hopeless and gives into despair. For despair steals the ability to dream. Hope is based on God's scriptural promises.
1. How do I cope with loss? Express your pain, don't suppress it. Suppressing pain causes emotions to pop back up later at inappropriate times as they scream to be expressed. If you step back for a moment and take time to review your options of expressing or suppressing your pain, you may choose the present soft whisper of expression rather than the delayed screaming voice of suppression. Whichever you choose, you and those close to you will reap the fruit of your decisions.
To enter into a new beginning requires courage to push through pain. No one can do this for you. Only you can with God’s help. Wishing for a better life or the one you had, doesn’t accomplish what is best. Living in the past causes immobilization and lack of spiritual growth. Moving forward brings healing and a new beginning in life. If you’re not willing to suffer the pain of change, you will suffer the pain of staying where you are.
During times of tragedy, you may feel alone as your life spins out of control. Relying on coping mechanisms gives a feeling of power and a false sense of stability. If the unhealthy coping style of suppressing emotions by food bingeing or deprivation, numbing with alcohol, or over medicating with prescription drugs rather than expressing the sorrows, denies you future experiences of mountain top joys. For the depth of your grief will always be equivalent to the height of the joy you experienced with a person, place, or thing.
Responding in fear or faith are the options available when a crisis hits. If fear is chosen, we feel alone. If we choose faith, we experience peace and an assurance of God's love that goes beyond current understanding. Romans 8:38-39, "I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
2. Why does God allow pain?
Christians are not exempt from pain on earth. Times of crisis, fiery trials, and temptations happen to the most faithful and trusting. These times are not punishment from God. They can be viewed as windows of opportunity in the development of our spiritual growth and the character of Jesus being formed in us. In Phillip Yancey's book The Gift of Pain he write, "Pain is a gift. Conditions such as diabetes, leprosy, alcoholism, multiple sclerosis, nerve disorders, and spinal cord injuries can bring about the strangely hazardous state of insensitivity to pain. Ironically, while most of us seek out pharmacists and doctors in search of relief from pain, these people live in constant peril due to pain’s absence. I first learned about painlessness while working with leprosy. After working for awhile with patients in India, I began to question the medical presumption that leprosy caused disfigurement directly. Did patients flesh simply rot away? Or might their problems be traced back to an insensitivity to pain? Perhaps leprosy patients were destroying themselves unwittingly simply because they lacked a system to warn them of danger. Without the experience of pain, we have no built in warning system for our self protection."
During painful times, we mustn’t allow our unpleasant circumstances to redefine what we think about God. The Lord’s death on the cross overcame evil, but it didn’t conquer the unfairness of pain in life. So, if we are looking for life to be fair, we’ll be disappointed. Bad things happen to good people. Yet, God can take anything that's shattered and make it whole again, but it requires surrendering the fragments into his hands. When we do, the Lord takes our pain and redeems it for our good and the benefit of others.
Character isn’t developed when times are good. Its developed through dark valley times of trials and suffering. Pain, trouble, and conflict is where our faith in God is tested, refined, and solidified into gold. Similar to when a metal worker wants to bend and mold a piece of steel, he heats up the metal in the fire until it is glowing red hot and malleable. He places the hot metal on an anvil. Strikes it hard with his sledgehammer repeatedly until it becomes the desired shape. Our hearts are the same. God is faithful to shape us. He allows our circumstances to heat up because God loves us too much to allow us to remain the shape he found us in. Without his divine loving intervention our hearts would remain hard, cold, apathetic, and self consumed. God doesn't send pain, but he uses it as an instrument for our spiritual maturity. Hebrews 4:13 encourages us, "Come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
3. How can pain be a window of opportunity?
To enter into a new beginning requires courage to push through pain. No one can do this for you. Only you can with God’s help. Wishing for a better life or the one you had, doesn’t accomplish what is best. Living in the past causes immobilization and lack of spiritual growth. Moving forward brings healing and a new beginning in life. If you’re not willing to suffer the pain of change, you will suffer the pain of staying where you are.
During times of tragedy, you may feel alone as your life spins out of control. Relying on coping mechanisms gives a feeling of power and a false sense of stability. If the unhealthy coping style of suppressing emotions by food bingeing or deprivation, numbing with alcohol, or over medicating with prescription drugs rather than expressing the sorrows, denies you future experiences of mountain top joys. For the depth of your grief will always be equivalent to the height of the joy you experienced with a person, place, or thing.
Responding in fear or faith are the options available when a crisis hits. If fear is chosen, we feel alone. If we choose faith, we experience peace and an assurance of God's love that goes beyond current understanding. Romans 8:38-39, "I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
2. Why does God allow pain?Christians are not exempt from pain on earth. Times of crisis, fiery trials, and temptations happen to the most faithful and trusting. These times are not punishment from God. They can be viewed as windows of opportunity in the development of our spiritual growth and the character of Jesus being formed in us. In Phillip Yancey's book The Gift of Pain he write, "Pain is a gift. Conditions such as diabetes, leprosy, alcoholism, multiple sclerosis, nerve disorders, and spinal cord injuries can bring about the strangely hazardous state of insensitivity to pain. Ironically, while most of us seek out pharmacists and doctors in search of relief from pain, these people live in constant peril due to pain’s absence. I first learned about painlessness while working with leprosy. After working for awhile with patients in India, I began to question the medical presumption that leprosy caused disfigurement directly. Did patients flesh simply rot away? Or might their problems be traced back to an insensitivity to pain? Perhaps leprosy patients were destroying themselves unwittingly simply because they lacked a system to warn them of danger. Without the experience of pain, we have no built in warning system for our self protection."
During painful times, we mustn’t allow our unpleasant circumstances to redefine what we think about God. The Lord’s death on the cross overcame evil, but it didn’t conquer the unfairness of pain in life. So, if we are looking for life to be fair, we’ll be disappointed. Bad things happen to good people. Yet, God can take anything that's shattered and make it whole again, but it requires surrendering the fragments into his hands. When we do, the Lord takes our pain and redeems it for our good and the benefit of others.
Character isn’t developed when times are good. Its developed through dark valley times of trials and suffering. Pain, trouble, and conflict is where our faith in God is tested, refined, and solidified into gold. Similar to when a metal worker wants to bend and mold a piece of steel, he heats up the metal in the fire until it is glowing red hot and malleable. He places the hot metal on an anvil. Strikes it hard with his sledgehammer repeatedly until it becomes the desired shape. Our hearts are the same. God is faithful to shape us. He allows our circumstances to heat up because God loves us too much to allow us to remain the shape he found us in. Without his divine loving intervention our hearts would remain hard, cold, apathetic, and self consumed. God doesn't send pain, but he uses it as an instrument for our spiritual maturity. Hebrews 4:13 encourages us, "Come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
3. How can pain be a window of opportunity? During times of pain, the choices we make are critical. These decisions will determine whether our hearts become hard as granite or as pliable as a rubber band. If we are pliable, we become flowing channels of God’s compassion to others, obtain new freedoms, healings, illumination of biblical principles, a refined and increased faith, and a closer relationship with God. Our fiery trials are not punishment or a sign of God’s displeasure. They are divinely appointed times of our transformation into the character of Christ. The Lord redeems pain by opening a door of opportunity for transformation. It is up to us to step out in faith with bold action. If we reject the opportunity for the Lord to transform our pain into gain it will remain senseless.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18, "Our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever." When pain hits we are the most vulnerable to attitudes of self centeredness and unforgiveness. These are barriers to compassion finding a home in our hearts, but if we run to Jesus for comfort compassion will be formed causing us to become channels of God’s unconditional love to a love hungry world.
Jesus once again is our role model in how to respond to grief and pain. In Matthew 14:6-14, Jesus had just learned of John the Baptist's martyrdom. The Lord's first response was to retreat into the wilderness alone in order to find comfort from Father God, but before he could make it to the desert a crowd was waiting for him on the shore. Even with his plan interrupted Jesus responds to them with compassion in spite of his own grief. This produced a series of tremendous miracles. It can be the same for us. When we choose to be comforted by God rather than find comfort in some form of revenge and to pour ourselves out for other's, our compassion moves the hand of God producing miraculous results. Now as a pliable vessel, the pressures of life won’t make us crack, but we will reflect Jesus to a dark world.
4. Is there hope for times of desperation? Yes, God's deliverance and healing are for the desperate. He's made a way of escape regardless of your situation. Psalm 46: 1-3,7, "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear." If you reach the end of your rope tie a knot in it, hold on, call out to the Lord for help, and wait for him. He won’t send someone to rescue you he will show up himself. Remember, he was the fourth man in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abenedngo. He won’t leave you alone. He will join you, comfort you, and carry you through.
If you reach a point of desperation, call on Jesus through a simple prayer of "Help me Lord!" He will calm the storm or he will calm your heart and allow the storm to continue. Whichever he chooses to do, you can trust his decision. Your responsibility is to be courageous and keep your focus on Jesus rather than the circumstances surrounding you. When you do this, you will live a supernatural life full of trust in God rather than becoming a casualty of the storm.
"The Right Road": A missionary was giving his testimony, after returning from a very dangerous service in a World War. He said that if someone sent him on a journey and told him the road to take, warning him that at a certain point he would come to a dangerous crossing of the river, at another point to a forest infested with wild beasts, he would come to that dangerous river crossing and the other dangers with the satisfaction of knowing that he was on the right road. So, he told them the Lord had predicted that Christians would be persecuted, and when persecution and tribulations came, he knew he was on the right road.
5. Is pain my fault?
5. Is pain my fault? Pain can be a consequence of your choices, someone else's choices, or the fact we live in a world containing unfair life experiences. Regardless of the source of your pain, God lovingly cares for you and uses the adversity to help develop you into a Spiritual Survivor. Philip Yancey writes in his book Disappointment with God, "Is God unfair? The answer depends on how closely we identify God and life. Surely life on earth is unfair. No one is exempt from tragedy or disappointment - God himself was not exempt. Jesus offered no immunity, no way out of the unfairness, but rather a way through it to the other side. Just as Good Friday demolished the instinctive belief that this life is supposed to be fair, Easter Sunday followed with its startling clue to the riddle of the universe. Out of the darkness, a bright light shone.
The primal desire for fairness dies hard, and it should. Who among us does not sometimes yearn for more justice in this world here and now? Secretly, I admit, I yearn for a world “fault-proof” against disappointment, a world where my magazine articles will always find acceptance and my body does not grow old and weak, a world where my sister-in-law does not deliver a brain-damaged child… But if I stake my faith on such a fault-proof earth, my faith will let me down. Even the greatest miracles do not resolve the problems of this earth: all people who find physical healing eventually die. We need more than a miracle. We need a new heaven and a new earth, and until we have those, unfairness will not disappear."
6. Is there a remedy for times of pain?
6. Is there a remedy for times of pain? Yes, give your pain to God. Through these painful experiences we may feel like we've been smashed into a million pieces. Each shattered piece looks like a useless shard of broken glass. But when we give these useless pieces to Jesus he connects them together creating a valuable and beautiful one of a kind stained glass masterpiece reflecting God’s glory. The places we become broken in are the very places we become the strongest in. This is similar to when a bone is broken and it heals. The site of where it was broken is now stronger than the rest of the bone. The Lord redeems a painful breaking in the weakest area by transforming it into the strongest attribute for His glory.
When a health crisis hits it takes defiant faith to stand against it. If we don’t, we can become victimized by it. This type of faith is characterized by an unwavering passionate trust and conviction of belief in God’s divine desire and abilities to heal us. The woman in Mark 5:34 had this type of faith. She had been bleeding for more than twelve years. She spent all she had on medical care in her attempt to be healed. In spite of her best efforts, her health continued to decline. Then she heard that the man Jesus, who healed everyone who came near him, was traveling through her village. Desperate and full of stubborn faith, she pushed through the crowd and managed to just touch the hem of his garment. Instantly, she felt healing flow through her body. Her persistent faith was the conduit for her healing.
7. What does it mean to be patient?
7. What does it mean to be patient? To accept a difficult situation from God without giving him a deadline to remove it. There is a day coming when you’ll receive what you’ve asked of God. Romans 12:12, "Rejoice in your hope, be patient in your troubles, and continue steadfastly in prayer." An elderly farmer had an old feeble donkey that accidentally fell into a deep dry well. The farmer thought since the donkey was so old and useless, he might as well bury it down there. He called his neighbors together with shovels and they started throwing dirt down on the donkey. After awhile the farmer was shocked to see the ears of the donkey and just as suddenly the donkey jumped out and ran from the farmer far across the field. The farmer and neighbors in shock looked into the well and discovered that every time they threw a shovel load of dirt down on the donkey, he simply shook it off and stepped on it. What was supposed to destroy the donkey became the stepping-stone to his deliverance.
8. What can I do as I endure this season?
• Remind yourself: God is not the source of your pain, but He will redeem it.
• Read God's Word consistently and frequently.
• Get rid of unimportant things in daily schedules.
• Fast, seek God's face, and listen expectantly for his voice.
• Declare your faith to others through your speech and actions.
• Take care of your body through a balanced diet and regular exercise.
• Talk with Jesus frequently throughout the day.
• Continue to participate in activities you enjoy.
• Meditate on God's scriptural promises.
• Listen to praise music. It’s medicine for your spirit.
• Stay in contact with other believers. Isolation only compounds your problems.
• Sing praises to the Lord. Praise brings freedom from discouragement, depression, and develops hope.
8. What can I do as I endure this season? • Remind yourself: God is not the source of your pain, but He will redeem it.
• Read God's Word consistently and frequently.
• Get rid of unimportant things in daily schedules.
• Fast, seek God's face, and listen expectantly for his voice.
• Declare your faith to others through your speech and actions.
• Take care of your body through a balanced diet and regular exercise.
• Talk with Jesus frequently throughout the day.
• Continue to participate in activities you enjoy.
• Meditate on God's scriptural promises.
• Listen to praise music. It’s medicine for your spirit.
• Stay in contact with other believers. Isolation only compounds your problems.
• Sing praises to the Lord. Praise brings freedom from discouragement, depression, and develops hope.
9. Is it possible to find contentment in painful circumstances? Yes, for contentment is simply the realization that God has provided everything you need for your present happiness. Paul writes in Philippians 4:11-13 that contentment can be learned , "...I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need." Leaning on God and focusing on the presence of God no matter what circumstances surround you brings contentment. Try this quick and easy exercise. Sit down in a comfortable and silent place. Close your eyes and sit still for a moment in the darkness. Now that you can't see where you are. Do you agree you could be living in a mansion or in the slums? In fact, you could be almost anywhere. But what are you aware of? Hopefully, it's God's presence. The reality of life is this: Regardless of where you are or what the circumstances are God can be found in the sanctuary of your heart. So when you are going through a season of grief or find yourself discontented with your circumstances or your environment, find a comfortable place to sit, shut your eyes, and retreat into the sanctuary of your heart. Here is where you will find God and the contentment you need. When you emerge from your sanctuary your circumstances may be the same, but your perspective has.
God is the true treasure that moth, rust and thief can't touch. No financial crash, natural disaster, or physical ailment can diminish God's presence. Revelation 21:2-4, "I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever." The concept of a painless existence is beyond our ability to comprehend on earth, but what an incredible promise and hope we have to help us through our remaining days on earth. When the pain is unbearable and hope has vanished hang on to the Lord.
Now, its your turn to reach out to others. See how to put your Love in Action.
Read the next chapter: Love in Action or choose a title below.
Knowing God Power of Prayer Spiritual Warfare Glossary
Born to Love Renew the Mind Crisis Help What Readers Are Saying
Divine Connection Are You a Misfit? Love in Action ____________________________________________________________________________
Scriptures quotations taken from the New Living Translation® (NLT) Bible. Copyright © 1996 Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.
CJB denotes scripture quotations taken from the Complete Jewish Bible® (CJB) Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern and used with the permission of Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc., P.O. Box 615, Clarksville, Maryland 21029. This Bible is available through Messianic Jewish Resources at: MessianicJewish.net
God is the true treasure that moth, rust and thief can't touch. No financial crash, natural disaster, or physical ailment can diminish God's presence. Revelation 21:2-4, "I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever." The concept of a painless existence is beyond our ability to comprehend on earth, but what an incredible promise and hope we have to help us through our remaining days on earth. When the pain is unbearable and hope has vanished hang on to the Lord.
Now, its your turn to reach out to others. See how to put your Love in Action.
Read the next chapter: Love in Action or choose a title below.
Knowing God Power of Prayer Spiritual Warfare Glossary
Born to Love Renew the Mind Crisis Help What Readers Are Saying
Divine Connection Are You a Misfit? Love in Action ____________________________________________________________________________
Scriptures quotations taken from the New Living Translation® (NLT) Bible. Copyright © 1996 Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.
CJB denotes scripture quotations taken from the Complete Jewish Bible® (CJB) Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern and used with the permission of Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc., P.O. Box 615, Clarksville, Maryland 21029. This Bible is available through Messianic Jewish Resources at: MessianicJewish.net