Title: Surviving A Crisis in Life

Date: 2009-01-18

Reference: 2 Cor. 12: 7-10

This New Year is not even a month old and already many in our church family have experienced illness, accident, death, and separation. Crisis is an ever present part of life, even part of the Exchanged Life, we Christians seek to live. Our Christian Faith does not make us immune from crisis, but helps us cope with crisis when it invades our lives. We’re not exempt, as Christians, from life’s trials. Christians get sick; have accidents and economic setbacks like other people. God doesn’t save us from trouble but saves us in trouble. From colds to cancer, crabgrass to cruelty no one is exempt from pain. We must never let it surprise us. Jesus said: “In this world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. “

Some crisis is temporary and sometimes it just seems to never end going on and on, for weeks, months, even years. When we are faced with crisis, we should quickly look to Jesus, who has overcome. As Peter discovered, while he was sinking fast in deep water, a person who looks to Jesus can even walk on water. In the Old Testament book of Daniel we read how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship an idol. They were bound and thrown into a fiery furnace. They learned they could walk through the fire and not be burned. They were able to do this because they were accompanied by the Son of God. God didn’t route David around the valley of the shadow of death, God became David’s Good Shepherd and walked with David through it.

When we learn to trust God with our daily lives, we will learn to trust God in times of crisis.

God promised in the 4th chapter of Phil. (4:19) to “take care of all our needs through Christ.” As we heard in today’s Scripture lesson: “My grace is sufficient for you and my power is perfect in your weakness.” The question for each of us is do we believe God and are we able to trust in his word and his promises?

In a sister church’s newsletter, I found a verse I liked a lot.. It said: “Good Morning. I am the Lord your God. And today I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember that I do not need your help. If the devil happens to deliver situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it, kindly put it in the SFJTD or Something For Jesus To Do File. It will be addressed, but in my time not yours. Once the matter is placed in the box do not hold onto it or attempt to remove it. Holding on or removal will only delay the resolution of your problem. If it’s a situation you are capable of handling please consult me to be sure that it is the proper resolution. Because I do not sleep or slumber there is no need for you to loose sleep. Rest my child. If you need to contact me, I am only a prayer away. Love Eternally, The Lord Your God.”

Life is good and wonderful. Life is also challenging at times. A crisis doesn’t have to be major to upset us. A car that won’t start, an overdrawn checking account, a difficult co-worker, a fender bender, a traffic ticket, doing poorly on an exam, unexpected expenses. Add to that list illness or death of a loved one and other major issues in life. We all know, sometimes life can be difficult even for the person who has decided to live the exchanged life.

As we seek to live the Exchanged Life, we need to be very sure that God is really in control of our lives. Either we are in charge or God is.

If we are in charge we will automatically look to self for a solution to issues we are facing. We’ll likely make things worse. Having God in charge takes the pressure off when the crisis comes. God is a great problem solver.

We never have to fight life’s battles alone. There is one who has promised to fight with us and to fight for us. We can trust Jesus because He is Able. Our Sunday School Class has been studying the Book of Revelation.

There in the last book of the Bible we wee a different side of Jesus described. Jesus is described as having eyes blazing with fire. A face like the shining sun in all it’s brilliance. A sharp two edged sword is coming out of his mouth. He is overwhelmingly powerful. This Jesus will have no trouble enabling us to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

By God’s Grace our lives are linked with the One who knows no defeat. Christ will help us get through any difficulties we may face. And when we emerge from the darkness to the other side we’ll have joy in life once again. We will be able to make a difference in the lives of others in a way that would have never been possible had we not learned to endure pain.

In the midst of crisis our faith has always offered up a four word affirmation. God Cares For You. I was watching the Gather Gospel Hour on television the other evening. Many of the great old hymns we love were products of crisis. The words assure us there is a God whose love is never failing, a God who will go with us through all of life’s Peaks and Valleys.

Christians of every age have experienced the steady, consistent, and loving care of God. It is not any easier or more pleasant for a Christian to go through the challenges of this life than it is for anyone else. But we do have something the world does not have, the strength of God sustaining us. This is a huge benefit of the exchanged life.

Our faith assures us that pain is not permanent for those who know and love Jesus. God’s grace comes with pain. If we expect life to consist of being born, being born again, being comfortable, dying and going to heaven, we’ve misunderstood how hard life can sometimes be.

God never promised a life of birth to death comfort. Life is not always comfortable and it’s certainly not always fair. But life is always a good and precious gift from a loving God. This loving God is able to take the most negative situation, turn it around and make it into a positive reality. I once heard a Sunday School Teacher give her testimony. She was suffering from a disease that curved her spine. She was stooped and bent over, in constant pain. She used to say: “God made me small and bent over like this so I can be right down where the children are. I love them so much and if I wasn’t like this, I couldn’t relate to them so well.” She turned a thorn into a triumph.

The Bible promises that God knows our load limit and when necessary God will limit the load. (I Cor. 10:13) This assures us that though we may bend we will never break. God has options for us in life we’ve never even dreamed of.

The frustrating thing about pain is that we cannot walk away from it. We must walk through it. The Bible describes two kinds of people.

Those who come to dead ends and cry out to God and then move on to greater usefulness and a deeper walk with God. And those who come to dead ends and stay there. Whenever we come to the end of our self, we find God.

Adversity introduces people to themselves. In times of trouble we discover quickly what kind of people we are and the quality of faith we have. God gives us inner braces for the outer pressures of life. The real problem is not that troubles come, but that we don’t have the resources to meet them.

All of life is in transition. We are all going through difficult changes in life, some voluntary and some against our will. Some changes are expected and some are surprises, some are happy and some are sad. All are traumatic as we human beings don’t always adjust well.

Life is sometimes like walking through a muddy field. Our feet are constantly sinking into the muck and searching for something solid to stand on, a rock, a stump anything. When we find something to stand on, though we are surrounded by slippery mud we are secure. The Bible says God’s nature is our rock. We can choose to sink in the mire around us or to climb onto the solid foundation God has provided. For many of us, when trouble comes, we focus more on what we have lost than what we have left. We go through life counting blessings on our fingers and our burdens on pocket calculators. The danger is that rather than moving through trouble we wallow in it. This is never God’s plan for us.

We sometimes turn away from God in times of crisis. We blame God for our situation.

In Romania, Gypsy children follow Westerners down the street begging for money. I learned if you gave a child a coin many others would keep following you. If you refused a child they would often curse you and walk away. The tragedy of life is that we treat God the same way. We are willing to follow God so long as He provides as we think He should. When we are refused for any reason at all, we are apt to curse God and walk away.

Rather than running from God we should run into God’s arms. As Paul said: “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy, to our only Savior be glory, majesty power and authority through Jesus Christ our Lore before all ages now and forever. Amen.