How do you overcome crises? We will look at three non-exhaustive but fairly comprehensive points that will empower you to overcome the current crisis and any crisis of your life.
The world is currently in a state of turmoil, and even if you read this after the current coronavirus agitation is over, there’s always some kind of turmoil or other that people are going through individual or collectively.
The first point in overcoming crises is faith.
Life involves continual problem resolution. The apostle Paul gives us a brilliant example of one of the ways by which we overcome crises – faith. He is on the way to plead his case before Caesar and the ship on which he is travelling is caught in a wild, destructive storm. Paul is in a crisis situation, he is facing potential death. As a prisoner, he cannot decide to leave the ship were the possibility even present, he was seemingly at the mercy of his jailers and the sailors. Yet he was not cowed, quite the contrary.
Earlier he had discerned that the voyage was headed towards damage and heavy loss, not only of the cargo on the ship but also of their lives. However, the powers that be on the ship had ignored him, but he was neither discouraged nor despondent.
As they were severely battered by the storm, they began to jettison the cargo. On the third day, they threw the ship’s gear overboard with their own hands. That’s how desperate they had become. For many days, neither sun nor stars were out. Then the severe storm kept raging. Finally, all hope that we would be saved was disappearing. And so what we see here is a situation of desperation. Even the seasoned sailors became desperate.
You may be in a storm
You may be in a figurative storm. You may be in what we call the storms of life. And many people in the world today are in that situation with this wretched epidemic and this miserable virus that have held the whole world hostage. Many people feel that they’re in the midst of a storm and they do not see a way out.
The Lord showed us that there would be a lot of traumatism and many people would become suicidal, depressed, and desperate. It’s as if they were closed in and there was no way out. But as God brought Paul out of the crisis, He will bring you out too.
Sometimes people lose hope because the people that they trusted in don’t have the solution. Many people are panicking right now. Why? Because their confidence was in the scientists and in the doctors and in the government, who today have no clue what to do.
These are the seasoned sailors who should know what to do, but not only did they not know what to do, but they were afraid. We’ve seen the fear in our leaders. We’ve seen their confusion. We’ve seen their inability to just propose a measure that they knew would solve the problem. Even the measures they’re proposing right now are not solving the problem.
The end of the lockdown in France did not reassure people. Parents wondered whether to let their children return to school or whether they should go back to work. The climate is one of uncertainty and confusion.
How did Paul demonstrate his faith in this crisis?
He rose above the storm and believed God. Paul stood up among them and reassured them that they would not suffer any loss of lives.
Why was he so confident? Why did he have this kind of faith?
He had instructions from God that they didn’t have. He had information from an angel that they were not privy to. Paul spoke to them. He revealed that he had a defining encounter. ‘An angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve came to speak to me. He told me what is going to happen. He told me I will be safe. He gave me a message from God that said nothing would happen to me and not only would nothing happen to me but that he was going to preserve you because of me.’ Unlike Zechariah who questioned the angel, Paul believed him.
How can you have faith in the midst of a crisis?
God has spoken to each of us via His Word. Hold on to those promises. Sometimes he brings those Scriptures to mind before so that we will have something to stand on when things are not going the way they should go. It already tells you your future. It tells you what God would do for you in situations of adversity and in crisis.
And the response that we as believers must make is not, yeah, but Lord, look what is going on because this is the pestilence. Rather, we respond ‘ I believe that it’s not going to touch me. I refuse to be touched by pestilence or by anything. So I will overcome this crisis. I will come out on the other side and I will fulfil my destiny. That should be somebody’s confession.
Many people think that when you have faith in the midst of a crisis, it’s because you don’t understand what is going on. No, it’s because we have superior information. We have information that trumps the current information that is being trumpeted abroad because that information comes from the heart of God.
Like Paul, you will overcome any crisis when you are able to say, ‘I believe God’ and stand firm.
Faith that defies the current circumstances
God will often tell you the opposite of what the circumstances or the crisis are saying. Choose to agree with God rather than with the crisis. You see, faith is not for those times when things are easy.
- Faith is to go counter to the prevailing situation.
- Faith is to stand in the face of something that denies your destination and insist that I shall walk through and arrive at my destination.
- Faith is to believe that the purpose of God will be fulfilled despite current upheavals.
- Faith is saying. I believe God in the midst of a storm, even though it looks as if it will never end.
- Faith is saying ‘I will live’ when the situation says you will die.
- Faith is refusing to let the situation define our feelings, opinions, and our words.
- Faith is allowing our thinking, our words, our feelings be determined by what God has shown us in his word.
I want to encourage you to believe God and to stay firm in this current crisis. Believe God,
- that financially he’ll take care of you.
- That your business may look like it’s shaking right now but it will survive and thrive.
Faith requires patience
The storm continued and at some point, the sailors wanted to escape, the soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners. Despite it all, Paul did not change his perspective. He remained persuaded that they would be saved.
He reiterated that none of them would lose a hair on their head.
Read the second part of this article one here Keys to strong, crisis-overcoming faith
Watch the video below and you will be empowered to walk in that kind of powerful faith that brings you through and out of every situation.
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