When We Pass Through A Crisis…

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;