Scriptural Journey Through Crises
Category: Surviving crises
Have you ever felt like you were not going to survive one more crisis? This article will help you when you need assistance during those times in your life when everything is falling apart.
By Linda Ranson Jacobs
www.dc4k.org/parentzone
A crisis is a time or situation in which you may not be sure what is happening. It can be a difficult time because you may have to make a decision, and you're not sure what the decision will be. Sometimes someone else has made a decision, and you are suffering the consequences of that decision. Or it could be that something is happening around you and all of a sudden everything seems out of control. Crises can be big, such as life-threatening situations, or they can be small, like when your child leaves the science project he worked on all weekend at the other parent's home. Today I want to visit about the big crises.
When I went through a divorce in the mid-eighties, I determined right away Satan would not benefit from this situation. I remarried in the late nineties, and when I was told that my husband had cancer and was going to die, I determined that Satan was not going to take any glory this time either. Why waste precious moments with Satan? I needed every second to devote to God, my heavenly Father. I didn't have time to gripe and complain. I believe with every big crisis, I learned better how to deal with the next one.
Even though I made a promise not to allow Satan any benefit through the divorce, I found myself griping considerably. I fussed and fumed. I talked to anyone who would listen to my plight of woe. But when my husband was dying, I was a little more seasoned and had learned better how to deal with a crisis. Maybe that had come from raising my children alone and facing small crises along the way. Maybe it had come from trial and error. Maybe it had come from learning to trust God more and from really studying His Word. However, I have to tell you, I was a slow learner about this last part of trusting God and searching His Word.
Whether you are in a crisis in your personal life or you are concerned about the state of confusion in our world today, I encourage you to take solace in God's Word. I have included many scriptures at the end of this article. I have found it helps me to look at each crisis that comes along as a journey. Some journeys are very long with a lot of turns, hills, valleys and detour signs. Other journeys are relatively short but seem long at the time.
Life Is Full of Crises
Webster's dictionary defines crisis as "a decisive or crucial time, stage, or event." Have you ever thought about your crisis, whatever it is, as a crucial time or a stage that you may need to process an event you are experiencing? We all experience crises in our lives. The loss of a job, a divorce, a falling out with family or friends, are all crises. Sometimes crisis falls upon crisis. For example, you go through a divorce and are barely able to function when you find out your child is into drugs, has dropped out of school or has run away. No one is immune to crises. Many symptoms accompany a crisis:
* Loss of sleep
* Being disorganized
* Visible emotions that one can't seem to control
* Disillusionment
* Apathy or just not caring anymore
* Helplessness
* Feelings of hopelessness
Some people will become so stressed out that they transfer their feelings to external factors:
* Drinking
* Overeating
* Excessive work
* Overspending
* Compulsive behaviors
* Perfectionism
* Becoming over-fearful
* Turning to sex
Survival Tips
So how does one process or work through a crisis? A better question might be "how does one survive a crisis?" Here are some tips, but I'm sure you will develop your own way as you move through your crisis.
1. I encourage you to get a journal of some kind. You can buy commercial ones or just use a spiral notebook. The main point is that you need a place to record your thoughts and insights that God brings to you.
2. Next, find a good daily devotional book. For years I have used Journey by LifeWay Publishers and My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. Another good devotional is DivorceCare's free online daily devotions: "One Day at a Time" (www.divorcecare.org).
3. Use a Bible that has a commentary or cross-references and one that's easy to read.
4. As you come upon a scripture, ask God to reveal the truths to you. Sometimes I spend several days on just one scripture. I will read it and then reread it the next day and the next and the next.
5. Learn to take your mind off yourself and your situation and pray for others. Rejoice and tell others how God is working in your life and in your crisis.
6. Vow not to give Satan any credit, any glory, any time or even any justification. We belong to the Lord. Our families can belong to the Lord. Our nation belongs to the Lord
Solace in the Scriptures
Following are some scriptures that may help you when you are in a troubling situation or a crisis. Please add your own passages as God reveals to you His Word.
FEAR: "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7)
POWERLESSNESS: "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." (Romans 8:26)
FEELINGS OF ALONENESS: "Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." (Psalm 100:3-5)
CONFUSION: "For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn-conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us." (2 Corinthians 7:5-6)
SEARCHING: "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." (Psalm 143:8)
SADNESS: "Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." (Psalm 30:5)
COMFORT: "He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters." (Psalm 18:16)
ACCEPTANCE: "He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes." (1 Samuel 3:18)
GOD'S CONTROL: "He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me." (Psalm 18:19)
PETITIONING: "In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice. In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." (Psalm 5:3)
ASSURANCE: "Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." (Romans 8:34)
HOPE: "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God." (Psalm 43:5)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'" (Hebrews 12:28-29)
TURNING TO GOD: "[God's] compassions never fail. They are new every morning." (Lamentations 3:22-23)
REFUGE: "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'" (Psalm 91:1-2)
PRAISE: "It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night." (Psalm 92:1-2)
CONTENTMENT: "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." (Philippians 4:11)
WITNESS TO OTHERS: "Let your gentleness be evident to all." (Philippians 4:5)
POWER: "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights." (Psalm 18:32-33)
FAITH: "A servant of Christ Jesus . . . is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured." (Colossians 4:12)
STRENGTH: "But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength." (2 Timothy 4:17)
PEACE: "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." (Isaiah 26:3)
REASON: "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves." (Romans 15:1)
GOD'S COMMAND: "Watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live." (Deuteronomy 4:9)
PROCESSING: "Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart." (Nehemiah 2:2)
GOD IS IN CONTROL: "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:17)
© MMV by the author and/or The Church Initiative, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproducible when used in conjunction with a DivorceCare or DC4K ministry.
Linda Ranson Jacobs created and developed the DivorceCare for Kids program.
To find more about DivorceCare for Kids or to find a DC4K group near you, go to www.DC4K.org.