CRISIS

Crisis is generally the reason behind feelings of wanting to give up.
In times of crisis, we can be tempted to "chuck it all," "give it up," "forget it."
Giving up and giving in during a crisis is one of the most demoralizing decisions we can make.
Facing the crisis is the natural result of change-one thing of which we can always be sure.
The world is in constant state of flux.
Peoples' lives change, the business climate fluctuates, world powers realign, history marches on.
The earth and our environment constantly evolve.
Crisis results in and from change.
Crisis includes such things as job changes, family conflicts and social pressures.
Both change and crisis are normal to life.
The crisis we face individually and corporately can lead us to a better life or can become
degenerative and detrimental.
The outcome rests, not in the nature of the issue, but in what we do with the crisis.
It's never the circumstance-always what we do with it-that determines our future.
The agony of failure and tormenting thoughts to give up are feelings shared by "winners" and "losers" alike.
What people do with the situation is what seperates the winners from the losers.
Winners are not those who never fail but those who never quit.
Pop psychologists preach that people can control the outcome of their crises. "Take charge of your destiny"
is their battle cry. In their theories, they give human the dual responsibility of dealing with the crisis
and controlling the outcome.
They are half right. In reality, God charges each of us with the responsibility to conduct ourselves
through times of change and crisis in a manner consistent with His Word and character.
But He controls the outcome for us. We do our part; He does His part.
The difference between what the world preaches and what God teaches is subtle, yet eternally significant.
We never know when crisis will come. Someone once said, "You are either in crisis or about to be faced with one."
Such is the normal ebb and flow of life.
Crisis is common in life.
Crisis is normal to life
No one can live in this world without crisis.
The stress that accompanies crisis is the factor that makes it seem so unbearable. A common desire for escape
can be a wish to return to ancient, simpler times or either, less-pressured days of history.
However, our ancestors and forebears did not experience less stress because their lives were less
sophisticated or because their modes od communication seperated them from modern methods and the fast pace of our fax
and modern world.
Adam and Eve, as recorded in the Holy Bible, ran away from the denial of God's authority and attempted to hide from God.
Their sin produced the stress of guilt, fear and hiding.
Men and women pioneers who founded America lived in privation as they sailed the seas.
They suffered from constant apprehension, danger, fear and anxiety as they pressed on from East to West while founding the nation.
In addition to the care and feeding of the family, they had the added pressure of forging a new nation economically,
socially and politically.
History recounts the ordeals of the Donner party, who tried to reach California from the East.
While en route, they were faced with the wilderness weather of the Rocky Mountains.
Trapped by winter in the almost impassable mountains they had to climb, unable to continue until the weather
changed, the survivors resorted to cannibalism.
That is stress! That is living in crisis.
Since stress accompanies crisis, stress is as common to life as is crisis.
A proper amount of stress, with its emotional, mental and even physical pressure, is something to be accepted
and even used as much as possible for positive good. A certain amount of pressure is needed to fine-tune a guitar
or piano, a business or even a person. People are not exempt. Its necessary to healthy living.
Fitness requires some stress as we apply pressure to muscle groups to tone and strengthen our bodies.
Pressure that is not used properly, however, can become the source of disaster by snapping the musical
string, causing a mental breakdown, pulling a muscle and, at times, destroying the person or a business
or a family.
Stress can come from a variety of sources-either internal or external, within or without.
Apostle Paul in the Holy Book endured hardship while sailing to Rome aboard a prison ship. He told the captain
the ship would be in danger from disaster if it left the harbour because the Lord had warned him of a coming storm.
Not believing the word of the Lord and listening to counsel, the captain ordered the crew to sail with Paul and
other prisoners on board.
When the storm came, the ship was tossed for days on the high seas, and the sailors and passengers alike feared for their
lives before the storm's fierceness. The constant, unrelenting gale caused apprehension, anxiety and alarm over their fate.
Even though Paul was a victim of another's decision, he had an anchor in his belief. He was strong in prayer
while others were weak in panic. He rode out the storm on his knees. Though having to submit to another's poor decision,
Paul was not discouraged. He heard the Lord telling him that if everyone would stay with the ship, they would all
be saved. When Paul gave the captain the Lord's instruction, this time he listened, and though they wrecked,
all made it safely to land.
The captain acted in faith on his trust in Paul's word. Paul acted in faith on his trust in God's word.
We may encounter people whose mistakes bring us hardship or loss, yet we, like Paul, also have an anchor to the soul-
our faith in Christ. Like the captain, we may lose some ships in our lives, but if God is with us in the midst of the storm,
we don't have to lose our lives for the sake of the ship.
When we reach the end of ourselves and think there is nothing left in us to face the circumstances of life; when we
cannot see anything else that can be done to end the crisis; when there is no understanding of what to do or which way to turn;
when our ship of finances, marriages, business or ministry is going down and it seems about to sink; when we seem to be alone,
naked, stripped of everything, the good news is-"God is faithful."
God says that He is faithful to His children even when they seem depleted of faith. Even when our prayers ring hollow and seem
to bounce back off the ceiling at us, He is faithful ti us. God has a different perspective of our lives. We see our lives
as a tapestry that, on our side, is filled with tangles and snarls, but He sees us from His perspective, the other side,
which is the finished product.
God never fails.
God never quits.
God never ends anything on a negative.
God is faithful.
REMEMBER
-Crisis is generally the reason behind feelings of wanting to give up.
-Crisis is the natural result of change.
-The crisis we face both individually and corporately can lead us to a better life.
-Crisis is normal to life.
-The right amount of stress can be used to motivate us in positive ways.
...NEVER QUIT!