Maintaining Spirituality in a Crisis. (Part 3)

We only get to look beyond the horizon of our life by faith. Trust is like the bridge over troubled waters. Trust is acting on our faith even when present circumstances deny His promises. You will never benefit from faith until you step onto the bridge. Trust is an attitude and an action.

Consider this story. God had parted the Red (Or Reed) sea as the nation of Israel left Egypt. Forty years later He repeated the miracle as they were about to enter the Land promised to Abraham. But there was a catch! The story is recorded in Joshua 3. This was the time when the Jordan was in full flood. At other times the Jordan would not have been an issue. The Israelites were told to follow the Priests. The Priests were to carry the Ark of the Covenant into the fast-moving Jordan water that was flooding over its banks. The Ark was carried on long poles because no one was allowed to touch this gold-plated symbol of the presence of Yahweh. The lid of the ark, called the Mercy Seat, was solid Gold and on top of that were two golden angels with outstretch wings. This vessel would have been weighty. Picture the scene in your mind. If you were the priest at the front, you would have been waist deep by the time the one at the back got his ankles wet. The parting of the Jordan did not happen until the priests, followed by the nation, stepped into the flooding waters. From there they moved to the victory of Jericho. Trust is an attitude and an action.

A crisis can have three results. Firstly, I often see people blame God for their troubles, which will either shake their faith and cause them to rethink their faith theology, or they will lose faith all together. Secondly, a person in faith will often find a deeper faith, or thirdly a person will actually find faith. A crisis will open a person’s life to God as they contemplate the futility of existence. Many people find faith because of a crisis. I became a Christian after three years of turmoil following my father’s death when I was 16, and my subsequent struggle with the meaninglessness of life.

However, many people lose faith in a crisis because of their faulty thinking. A crisis will either deepen or destroy faith. It doesn’t produce character, it reveals it. In the face of catastrophe, a person will become bitter or better.

So how do you tap into this faith. To begin with, realize your need. Remember the story of Naaman. Jesus said come to me if you are burdened and heavy laden (Matt 11:28.) Don’t seek things, or books, or sermons. Seek Him! There is no way to ‘The Way.’ He is the way.

Then, seek Godly people, Godly friends, and small groups. This is the shelter of friends and the oasis of fellowship. The major reason many struggle with their own failures is because they are task orientated. Their religion is performance based and so they succumb repeatedly to their own limitations. When you reach out to God, He will send into your path gifted, wise, loving people who will help you get where you need to go. If you try and stand alone, your faith will be easily vandalized. As a pilgrim through life welcome, as traveling companions, those who will help you pursue your goals.

Finally, the best lesson on dealing with crises is from the tragedy of the cross which itself was a symbol of pain, limitation, strain, hatred, rejection. and darkness. Think of all the worst things that could happen. They were all there at the cross. Jesus was poised between heaven and earth as if he was rejected by both. His arms were outstretched indicating He would continue to love us. What a lesson that is in dealing with crises. Even when you feel forsaken and hard pressed, stretch forth your arms in love. Overcome evil with good.

The whole Bible, 6,000 years of history, culture, and human drama focuses like a magnifying glass on the execution of Calvary. But His death was not the end of the story. There was a resurrection and victory over death.

When we are in a crisis, we look for a short cut, but there is none in this life, only coping. Pray the prayer of Jesus as He did from the cross, “Father into your hands…“  Like Jesus did with His Father, when the sun refused to shine, bring Jesus into your darkness. When we bring Jesus into the darkest depths, it brings the light of the world upon us. When we fail to see God in crises, the world becomes a place of chaos and darkness, with all the gears crashing and grinding. It is a mess.

Our Lord’s life was one of suffering, so that suffering could be sanctified. He was a refugee in Egypt in His childhood that refugees might be comforted in their plight. As a youth He lived in a home of poverty, so that the poor might know His sympathies. He knows what it is like to be despised, rejected, and betrayed by his own people.

Six hours of hell on the cross sanctified every agony through which every son and daughter of Adam will ever pass. Our Lord turned black Friday into Good Friday. If it is Friday in your life right now, remember resurrection Sunday is coming. If you accept that, it becomes like wings to a bird or sails to a ship. If you lift up the cross, you will find that it lifts you up.

Whatever you are experiencing now, remember that it will not last. Beyond the walls of this world is a new world worth enduring for.

The Bible stakes God’s reputation on His ability to restore creation to its original state of perfection. Along with Paul, all the Apostles, Patriarchs, and millions of martyrs, I stake my hope in the power of His resurrection and look forward to a time when Christ will “transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.” (Phil 3:21)