The Crisis Is Universal and It Spares No One
Isaiah 24:1-3 says:
1 See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants— 2 it will be the same for priest as for people, for the master as for his servant, for the mistress as for her servant, for seller as for buyer, for borrower as for lender, for debtor as for creditor. 3 The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The Lord has spoken this word. (Isaiah 24:1-3)
This is a prophecy about the Babylonian captivity. God was going to punish the land because of the idolatry of His people. But we are pausing on these verses because they paint an extraordinarily vivid picture of a crisis. At this moment the whole world is in a health crisis (a pandemic) and an economic crisis. The crisis these verses describe is universal. It comes upon everyone — upon the ordinary people and upon the priests, the elite of society. In those days the priests were a special class that enjoyed certain privileges. They were supported by the tithes of the people. Yet even so, in a time of crisis, what happens to ordinary people happens to the priests as well; what happens to the servants happens to their masters too — not only the servants are affected by the crisis, but their masters as well.
“For seller as for buyer” — the buyer has no money to buy, but when there are no buyers, the seller in turn has no revenue from which to profit. The crisis affects everyone — both those who are poorer and those who are richer. The one who has taken out a loan and cannot repay it suffers, because he has no money and cannot pay it back. But the one who gave the loan also suffers, because he cannot profit from the interest; and even if he seizes the borrower’s mortgaged property, he cannot sell it in a time of crisis, because no one buys in a time of crisis. And even if he does sell it, its price will be far lower than the original stated value, so that he still loses, and loses much. When the economy is in crisis, it is bad both for the workers and for the employers; both for the producers and for the merchants; both for the bankers and for those who have taken out loans. It is another matter that God does not want us to live in debt, but to enjoy financial freedom. But my point here is that when a crisis comes, it is universal and affects everyone — it spares no one. It is the same with the pandemic. It is an epidemic, a “plague,” that touches every country, every continent, the whole earth.
What I have said so far is nothing new — we all know it, and we know it from experience. But the good news is that in God’s Word there are principles which, if we apply them in our lives, will help us not only to overcome the crisis but even to be blessed in it.
Crisis Is Something Normal, and We Should Not Fear It
The first principle that would help us cope with a crisis is to realize that crisis is something normal and we should not be afraid of it. Experts in personal finance say that the reason it is good for a person to have savings is that, statistically, every ten years in a person’s life some kind of crisis occurs. If you think about it, this really is probably true. Over a ten-year span of life a person may fall ill, may lose his job, may lose a loved one, may face an economic crisis with inflation soaring beyond measure, or something else may happen.
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word crisis as “a stage in a sequence of events at which the direction of all future events is determined.” Clearly a crisis is something extremely important. It is something normal, but at the same time it is a turning point that determines our future. Because if we overcome it, we will enter into something better; but within the crisis itself there is also danger. If we do not act rightly, we may lose ourselves in the crisis, and our condition may become far worse than it was before. So a crisis is a very decisive moment, and how one behaves in a time of crisis matters greatly, because our actions and our attitude during a crisis will determine the outcome of the crisis — what will happen when the crisis passes.
The Graph of the Crisis
Our life is a sequence of situations or events. The crisis is the period of transition in which we leave one situation in order to enter a new one. The crisis is the exchange of one stable state for another. At a given moment our life looks like a straight, horizontal line — we have work, we receive our salary, things are good, we are healthy, there are no dangers… But in the next moment things begin to worsen. When James speaks of trials, he uses the word “[you] fall” (James 1:2). Falling is always in a downward direction. For example, if an economic crisis sets in — there is talk of layoffs, then we ourselves end up on the list, and finally we are left without work — the direction of our life goes downward. In this downward movement, everything in our life begins to fall apart — we may lack finances, there may be a crisis in our relationships, there may even be a health crisis. What matters, though, is that at the moment the crisis sets in, we lose what we had. We go out of what we were in, in order to enter the crisis. And when we enter the crisis, things move down, down, down, down… But they cannot go down forever. At a certain point they reach the bottom of the crisis. Because, however deep it may be, every abyss has a bottom, does it not? Once they reach the bottom, things have nowhere further down to go, and they begin to move upward. When they move upward, they rise to a new level — a level at which the problems that caused the crisis find their resolution. Then our life settles at this new level.
We might call this the graph of the crisis. At the beginning it moves along a straight line. Then it goes downward and gradually reaches the bottom. From there on it begins to move upward and reaches a new level, a new straight line, in which our life is again a life without crisis.
But there are two possibilities. One possibility is that we come out of the crisis at a much higher and better level than the one we were at when we entered it. At this new level things can be far better, because we, or rather God, have removed the problems that led us into the crisis. He has helped us, and we have passed through the crisis.
The other possibility, however, is that we do not act rightly in the crisis and lose entirely what we had before it, so that our new condition is far worse than the first. It matters greatly what we do during the crisis.
Today, when there is a pandemic, when we receive bad news about people infected with COVID-19, when we hear of thousands of deaths and economic damage across the whole world, let us pray that the Lord will give us wisdom to know how to act and how to conduct ourselves in a time of crisis. Let us have faith, because faith will help us pass through the crisis.
If we know that a crisis is not something terrible, that a crisis is not something exceptional, this will help us be clear about what lies ahead of us. Crisis is something normal, and we should not be afraid of it. Let us pray to be free from fear, because every fear leads to turmoil among people. It is fear that paralyzes. The Lord does not want us to be afraid, but to have a vision of what He will do, and so to have courage.
Going Out and Coming In
In fact, the crisis is the period between our going out and our coming in. The crisis is a period of transition in which we go out of one situation in order to enter a new situation. We can view the crisis in this way — as a going out and a coming in. We go out of one stable state and enter another, and the time between the going out and the coming in is the crisis. But the going out and the coming in themselves are actually something natural in our lives. We are continually going out and coming in. Just think how many times a day you go out of one room in order to enter another. Through how many doors do you pass in a day? Passing through every door involves a going out and a coming in. For example, to come into the room where you are right now, you have also passed through at least two doors — perhaps you went out and walked to the pharmacy, to work, or to the store, and came back. Every morning when you wake up, you go out of your bedroom and into the bathroom. Then you leave your home and go to your workplace or somewhere else. But if you think about it, even going to the bathroom carries risks. Even in that short span you could slip, fall to the ground, and break your leg. I do not wish that on anyone, but my point is that every going out and coming in is a period of crisis and carries risks. Whenever you leave your home, you are potentially in danger. For example, a car could hit you, or you could meet someone who is a carrier of the virus and be infected. Every move from one place to another has two phases — leaving one place and entering the other.
Coming in and going out are part not only of our physical life, but also natural moments in every area of our lives. We pass through the different situations of our lives in the same way that we pass through different doors. And the time between leaving our starting place or stable situation and entering a new place or stable situation is the period we call crisis. The crisis is the exchange of one stable state for another.
Kept in the Crisis
The crisis is a period of transition in which going out is exchanged for coming in. And the good news is that God has promised us that He will keep us and protect us during this crisis. Psalm 121:8 says:
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (Psalm 121:8)
While we travel, we are in a period of crisis. We have left the security of our home in order to reach the point of our destination — the place we want to go. But during this “crisis” — our journey — some incident or accident could happen to us. While we travel, we are on the territory of the “war on the roads.” That is why, when someone is traveling from somewhere and we are waiting for him, if he is delayed, we begin to worry whether something has happened to him. But God has promised us that He will keep us from every evil. Glory to God! Psalm 91:9-12 says:
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, 10 no harm will overtake 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. (Psalm 91:9-12)
God will keep us in the crises through which we pass, and they will not harm us! We must pass through the crises of our lives with faith that the Lord will keep us. He is always with us. He is with us in a time of crisis! He will keep us in this pandemic in which we now find ourselves. So let us have this faith within us — that God is with us in a time of crisis. Even if we should pass even through the illness itself, the Lord will be with us in everything we go through. We can speak not only of being kept, but also of being blessed in the crisis, because in the trial through which we pass, the Lord will work something in us. James tells us:
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. (James 1:2-3)
The Lord is interested in how we react. He is interested in our growing spiritually, in our faith being built up. The Lord is interested in our beginning to pray more and having the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He has good thoughts toward us — to give us a future and a hope. That is why we must be confident that when the crisis passes, we will be in an even better position than the one we were in before it.
Blessed in the Crisis
In itself, the fact that God will be with us and will keep us in the crisis is wonderful news, but there is something even better. And it is that God will not only keep and protect us during our crises, but He will also bless us in the crisis. His will for us is not merely that we survive the crisis, but that we be blessed in the crisis. In Deuteronomy 28:6 we read:
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. (Deuteronomy 28:6)
The Lord says that He will not only be with us and keep us, but He will bless us. Before a person starts a job, he is in a crisis — he is unemployed. When he leaves a job, he is again in a crisis. Before a person marries, he is in a crisis; when he loses his partner, he is again in a crisis. Think about it, and you will see that our whole life consists only of comings in and goings out and crises. Birth itself is a crisis in which we go out of our mother’s womb and enter this world. We usually rejoice in the comings in — starting a job, being accepted into a university, birth, entering marriage… But God wants us to be blessed not only when we come in, but also when we go out — to be blessed during the crisis — after the going out and before the coming in (the death of a loved one, a layoff, moving from one apartment to another).
There is a whole book in the Bible devoted to going out — its name is “Exodus.” It is devoted to the leading of God’s people out of Egypt. In order to enter Canaan, the promised land flowing with milk and honey, the Hebrews had to pass through the wilderness. The wilderness was the period between their going out and their coming in. In other words, the “wilderness” was their crisis. The Lord was with them in the crisis. He revealed Himself to them in the crisis. He gave them a revelation of Himself in the wilderness.
In God’s Will During a Crisis
To go out is something normal. And whenever we go out of any stable state, we enter a crisis. And so I want to ask you: “Is it possible for a person to be in a crisis and at the same time to be in God’s will?” I think the answer to this question is “yes.” Crisis is something normal, and often it is precisely when we are in the middle of the crisis that we grow the most. Trials work toward the perfecting of our character. In passing through the crisis, the Lord works something in us, and if our eyes are turned toward Him, if our gaze is toward Him and we know that He is with us in this crisis, then in the crisis itself we can still be blessed.
Usually it is precisely in a time of crisis that we see the most miracles from God. When in the biblical history of Israel were there the most miracles? When the Lord was leading them out of the land of Egypt there were ten plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, water in the wilderness, manna from heaven, and who knows what else. When everything is normal, we somehow do not call upon God for miracles. But when we are in a crisis, when we are in the “wilderness,” we need God’s miracles. It is precisely in the crises that God reveals Himself as the God of miracles.
Every change is accompanied by crisis. Abraham had to go out from his country, from his people, and from his father’s household, in order to go to the Promised Land (Genesis 12:1).
1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. (Genesis 12:1)
How did the migration of the patriarchs to Egypt come about? It too was brought on by a crisis — seven years of famine (Genesis 42:1-3).
1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” 2 He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.” 3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. (Genesis 42:1-3)
How did the migration of Israel from Egypt to Canaan come about? It too was brought on by a crisis (Exodus 1:8-14).
8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” 11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly. (Exodus 1:8-14)
Israel passed through the crisis of slavery, but that is how they arrived at the Exodus from Egypt.
So I ask you again:
- “Was it God’s will for the patriarchs to go to Egypt?” The answer to this question is yes.
- “Was it God’s will for Israel to go out of Egypt?” The answer to this question is again yes.
Confirmation of this we find in Genesis 15:13-14, where God foretold to Abraham that this would happen:
13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. (Genesis 15:13-14)
So, is it possible to be in God’s will during a crisis? Yes. Is it God’s will for us to live precisely in this time, when there is a pandemic? Certainly. Some crises can last for centuries. As a people, the Bulgarians were slaves of the Turks for five hundred years. But throughout all that time we never took our eyes off freedom, and in the end we were set free from that bondage.
To Pass Successfully Through the Crisis, We Must Never Stop Looking in Perspective Toward Its Final Goal
In order to accept the crisis as something normal, we must do two things. First, to look at it from God’s point of view. And second, to see it in perspective. We must not see the crisis only up to the moment when things are going downward. That is extremely dangerous. We must see its goal and its end, and also its ascending part. The pandemic will end. The day when they will say that there is no more coronavirus in Bulgaria will come. We must believe that we will reach that moment. But before things start moving upward, they must reach the bottom.
Today there are many voices and messages of people spreading through social media that say the crisis will never pass. Our new normal will be to live in crisis. If we look at the situation this way, we will despair, become depressed, lose trust in God, and lose the strength to move forward. But God’s will is for us to look toward the way out of the crisis.
The Chinese Character for Crisis
They say that the Chinese character used to denote the word “crisis” is a combination of two other characters — the one for “danger” and the one for “opportunity.” In the crisis there is danger, there is also opportunity, and there is also an element of risk. This fact reminds us that in the crisis we must see not only the danger of losing the status quo, but also the opportunity for change for the better. May God help us to see not only the danger, but also the opportunity in the crisis.
God never leads us out of somewhere merely in order to bring us into a crisis. If He leads us out of somewhere, it is only in order to bring us into something better. Before the pandemic we may have thought that everything was fine. But if God has led us out of the place where we were, it is not in order to bring us into this crisis and destroy us. No. God will carry us through the crisis, but afterward He will lead us out into a better state. After the pandemic passes, we will look back and say: “Lord, we thank You, because the place where You have now brought us is better than the place where we were before the coronavirus appeared.” At this moment this may sound strange to you, but I believe that this is exactly what God’s Word tells us. In Psalm 66:8-12 we read:
8 Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; 9 he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. (Psalm 66:8-9)
If we are alive today, it is because the Lord “has preserved our lives.”
10 For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. (Psalm 66:10)
The crisis is a testing. At this moment we are in a test. How is silver refined? Silver is refined in the fire. The metal is heated until it melts, so that the impurities, the “dross,” can be separated from it. In the testing God will separate from us the dross of sin and will leave the silver of righteousness.
11 You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. (Psalm 66:11)
Here the Egyptian slavery is spoken of figuratively. God had planned for the Hebrews to go to Egypt. He had planned for them to be slaves for a time. But in all of this they grew. Though they were oppressed, they multiplied to such a degree that the Egyptians did not know what to do to stop them. We must not look at the crisis as something that will crush us, but as something that will perfect us. God has a plan, we are in God’s will, and He will grow us and bless us as we pass through this crisis.
12 You let people ride over our heads; (Psalm 66:12)
The way the things God did with His people are listed here is a truly horrifying gradation. As you read, you say to yourself: “The evils He speaks of will end.” “Is it not enough that You will test us like silver? Is it not enough that we are in prison? Is it not enough that You have laid a heavy burden on our backs? But do You even let people ride over our heads?” But see how it all ends. What happens after they reach the bottom of the crisis?
we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. (Psalm 66:12)
“But you brought us to a place of abundance”! You see, our life’s path passes through crises. And these crises may be caused or brought on by God. But God never leaves us in the crisis. He always brings us out to a broad and “abundant” place. One day, in the near future, we will say: “Yes, we passed through the pandemic, we passed through illnesses, we passed through crisis, we passed through unemployment, we passed through who knows what, but You brought us to a place of abundance.” With God’s help we will come out of this pandemic and this crisis, whatever it may be.
God did not bring the Israelites out of Egypt in order to wear them out in the wilderness. He brought them out of the land of slavery in order to bring them into the land of freedom — a land that would be their own possession and their inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:7-10; Deuteronomy 6:23)!
God desired to lead them into the Promised Land. But before He could bring them in, He had to bring them out! And before He brought them in, they had to pass through the wilderness. The wilderness was the crisis they had to pass through.
And here I want to stress that it is extremely important how we look at the crisis. What is our attitude toward life as we pass through the crisis? Do we look at the crisis as a road to glory, or as a graveyard in which we must die? If we look at the crisis with pessimism, this can keep us from coming out of it. A whole generation of Israelites died in the wilderness because at a certain moment they saw no way out of the wilderness. They looked at the crisis with pessimism, and this kept them from coming out of the crisis. In Numbers 14:1-4 we read:
1 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:1-4)
To what a degree the Israelites had despaired! To what a degree they blamed God! At that moment the eyes of the Israelites were turned away from their final goal. They did not see the crisis in perspective. They did not see the opportunity, they saw only the danger. And this attitude of theirs destroyed them.
The Lord is in control. He knows what is happening. He is carrying us through this crisis that is happening right now. We can blame God and say: “Why did You allow all this? You want to kill us!” It is dangerous to have such an attitude of negativism and pessimism, because it can keep us from passing through the crisis.
Joshua and Caleb passed through the same crisis, but unlike their peers, who died in the wilderness, they entered the Promised Land. Why? Because they never took their eyes off God’s goal for them (Numbers 14:6-8).
6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes (Numbers 14:6)
When they heard what the others were saying, Joshua and Caleb simply could not bear it any longer. They were so angered, so shaken and distressed, that they “tore their clothes.”
7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. (Numbers 14:7)
Notice, Joshua and Caleb were not thinking about the fact that at that moment they were in the wilderness, but were looking toward the land into which the Lord desired to bring them.
8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. (Numbers 14:8)
See, it says that “he will lead us into that land” and He “will give it to us”! So we must never look at the worsening of the situation or at the impossible challenges, we must not look back, but look toward the goal that God has for us. Even if you fall ill, you must look toward recovery. You must not think that you will remain sick forever. You must look toward recovery and think about the fact that, once you pass through the illness, you will gain immunity. And when you have immunity, even if the virus comes again, it can do nothing to you, because you are immune against it. We must look at things with hope and faith, look toward the goal that God has for us.
With Our Eyes on God and on Jesus
In a time of crisis our gaze must be not only toward the final point, toward the way out of the crisis, but also toward God, toward the source of the strength and deliverance from our troubles. The problem of the ten spies and the Israelites in the wilderness was that they examined the situation and spoke about it as though God did not exist. In contrast, Caleb and Joshua included God and His promises in the situation. This is what changes the picture. With our prayers, with the confession of His promises, with thanksgiving and worship, we “bring” God into the situation. God, of course, is here, because He is omnipresent. He is everywhere at the same time. But by our words and actions of faith we allow Him to act in our lives. When God is in the situation, He changes everything. He is sovereign, He can do anything. He can deliver us, He can heal us, He can supply our needs, He can lift us up. He is with us, and He changes the situation.
The focus of the ten spies was not on the good land, but on the “giants,” on the “descendants of Anak” (Numbers 13:27-28). When our focus is on the problems, on the pandemic, on death, then we will despair. But instead of looking at these things, our gaze must be on God and His promises. On God and His promises was the focus of Joshua and Caleb, and that is why they said: “If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land and will give it to us.” We must look toward God and have the assurance that He will carry us through this pandemic and bring us into a place of rest and victory.
As Christians, we must not forget that God’s highest goal for us in our life is not that we live well. God’s highest goal for our life is that we enter into God’s glory. And in Hebrews chapter 12 it tells us how to run the race set before us. By looking to Jesus, “the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” We must not take our eyes off Jesus!
Sometimes God may send crises into our lives so that we can return to Him. As in the time of the Judges. When everything was going well for them, the Israelites did as they pleased and began to worship other gods. Then God allowed their enemies to defeat them. And when Israel fell into captivity, they turned to God and began to cry out to Him for help. Then He raised up for them a deliverer, who set them free. Afterward they again forgot the God of their fathers. But we must never forget Jesus Christ! For He is our Redeemer! When we are in a crisis, we must look not only toward the way out of the crisis, but also toward Jesus. In Hebrews 12:1-3 we read:
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, (Hebrews 12:1)
These words were written to believing Jews in Rome, who were being persecuted and hunted for their faith. While they were in persecution, they were in a crisis. Some of them were even crucified, and others were handed over to the beasts on the arena of the Colosseum. They became martyrs. They passed through the crisis of persecution. The cloud of witnesses in verse 1 is the martyrs of the second part of chapter 11, who paid for their convictions with their lives and entered into God’s glory.
As Christians, we are runners in a marathon. We must free ourselves not only from sin, but from everything that slows us down, so that we can run with all our strength toward the finish. But how can we do all this? The answer is in verse 2.
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:2-3)
Notice, Jesus left us an example. For He too passed through a crisis, passed through the crucifixion, passed through the shadow of death… But He “endured.” Why? Because He was looking to “the joy set before him” — the joy of the resurrection, the joy of winning the whole world, of winning the church! So let us today consider Jesus, who endured such an enormous pressure. Through what a deep crisis He passed! Through what rejection! Through what a scourging! Through what humiliations! Through what agonies! On the cross, upon His shoulders, upon His heart, was laid the sin of the whole world. Already in the garden of Gethsemane His sweat turned into great drops of blood that fell to the ground! On the cross He was so exhausted that His strength gave out in only a few hours. Jesus scorned the shame, scorned the humiliation, because He was looking to “the joy set before him.” That is why we live on this earth, that is why we fight, because we have a joy set before us, when we will see our Lord face to face. There is a joy set before us, when our bodies will rise from the dead, when we will not remain in the grave, but will enter into God’s glory! Passing through death is also a kind of crisis. You leave your earthly life, you go out of your body and enter eternity, you enter into the presence of Jesus. Death is not an end, but a door through which we go out of our earthly life and enter into God’s presence. We know that one day each one of us will pass through this door, but not in order to cease to exist, but in order to enter into the presence of God.
Even on this earth… God will never leave us. In days of famine we will be filled, and He will make us prosper in everything we do! That is why we must not be afraid! If a crisis comes, whatever comes… Nothing can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39), nothing can knock us down while God is on our side (Romans 8:31)! That is why we must be steady in the Lord!
How many examples of crises have we spoken of so far? We spoke of how Abraham left Ur of the Chaldeans. We spoke of Jacob and his sons, who in a time of crisis had to go out of their homeland and migrate to Egypt. We spoke also of the exodus from Egypt. We spoke also of Jesus Christ. He too passed through a crisis — the crisis of the cross.
Let us lift our eyes from the pandemic and from the economic crisis, and turn our gaze toward Jesus. He has begun our faith. He is also the Perfecter, who will perfect our faith as we pass through the crisis. Let us not lose heart; let us be encouraged. We must be so encouraged that we encourage the people around us. What will draw them near to Jesus is if they see that we react differently from other people. Let us not complain, but be bold, be brave, be encouraged — not be reckless, but also not be fainthearted. And when our neighbors and fellow citizens ask us why we are like this, it will give us the opportunity to tell them about Jesus.
The Worker from Pittsburgh
In his book “Living Through Change,” Edwin Louis Cole recounts the following incident, which took place in Pittsburgh during a financial crisis, when unemployment in that city reached twenty-seven percent.
“This man had worked in a steel factory for twenty-two years, until one day he was suddenly laid off and left without work. He had always thought that one day he would retire from the factory and live out his old age happily. But now he found himself without work, without a pension, and his unemployment benefits would soon run out. He knew he had to do something.
At home he was depressed and irritable. This took hold of the whole household and family. The children “got on his nerves,” and it always seemed that he was in his wife’s way. The first few weeks were like a vacation, but staying home all day doing nothing became tiresome to him. Along with his bad situation, the future also began to weigh on him.”
He did not know the principles for coming out of a crisis that we are considering today. Nevertheless, he told the following:
“I simply knew that I had to get out of the house and be outdoors. So I began each day to go out shortly after the children left for school, and I would come back after they were already home. When there was nowhere to look for a new job, I took long walks and spent outdoors about the same amount of time I would normally spend at work.
I had already been out of work several months when a heavy snowstorm hit the city. After it passed, I went out the next day to walk again. Then I saw a woman from the neighbors, who was sitting at the window looking out at me. I realized that she could not get out of her house because of the snow, and I asked her if she wanted me to clear it. She was grateful to me.
When I finished, she offered me money, but I refused. The next day a widow asked me to clear her path too. I suppose word had gotten around. I cleared in front of her house too. When she offered to pay me, she was so insistent that I accepted.
I took the money and bought my sons snow shovels. So, while they were at school, I went around to see whether anyone needed the paths in front of their house cleared. When my sons came home, we all went together and shoveled the snow. That week I earned more money than when I worked at the factory.
It was wonderful. I felt good. We did this all winter long.
After that, spring came, and I passed by that woman’s house again. As we talked, I noticed that her backyard needed cleaning up. I asked her whether she wanted me to clear it, and she agreed. I cleaned out her basement and took some of the things she wanted to throw away.
The old saying that “one man’s trash is another man’s antique” proved true. I took some of her trash and sold it as an antique.
I began going from house to house asking the owners whether they needed their yards and basements cleaned out. That is how my business began. Now I have my own business and an antique shop, and I earn more money than I ever did at the factory. This winter I am taking my wife on a vacation to Florida, leaving a substitute to look after the business.
If I had not been laid off from the factory, I would never have gotten to where I am today. When I first lost my job, I could not understand why God allowed it, but now I realize that God was simply working in me. When I fully surrendered to Him, He created for me a completely new life. The best thing that ever happened to me was being laid off. Now I can praise God for it.”
The crisis is something inevitable, something irreversible. So the best thing we can do when we are in it is to get through it. And we can do that by looking toward its final goal. There is no going back. God’s way of dealing with the crisis is not to run away from it, but to enter into the new and better place He has prepared for us!
The crisis can prompt us to think in new ways, to search for new opportunities. The man from Pittsburgh we spoke of was oppressed and depressed by the loss of his job. But when he prayed and sought God, God opened his eyes to new opportunities. So when he came out of the crisis, he was in a better position than before. Before the crisis he was a factory worker, and afterward he was a business owner. We must look at the crisis as an opportunity. God’s way of dealing with the crisis is not to run away from it, but to enter into the new and better place He has prepared for us.
Decisive for Passing Through the Crisis Is the Condition of Our Heart
As we have already said, the crisis is a transition from one stable state to another. And the most important thing in this transition is what we carry in our heart. Because the way we go out will determine the way we come in. We can go out of our old life, out of our old circumstances and surroundings. We can flee from reality, but there is one thing we cannot leave behind, and that is our own spirit and our own character. Wherever we go, our spirit and our character go with us. What is in our heart will determine not only how and whether we will get through the crisis, but also what our new circumstances and surroundings will be.
If we leave the old place with a wounded spirit, with bitterness, grumbling, ill will, hostility, resentment, unbelief, narrow-mindedness, pride, laziness, sloth… then these will be seeds that you carry with you and sow in the new place. Then they will bear the same fruits as those you left behind you.
The heart is more important than anything else. The condition of our heart will determine the framework of our future circumstances and setting. It will determine the direction of the future events in our life. You see, the roots of our problems are not in the circumstances or in the environment around us. Our problems are rooted in the seeds we have sown in our spirit. If we want to deal with our problems, we must change our heart. So do not sow seeds from the past in your new fields of relationships!
If we do not deal with these seeds during our crisis, then when we enter our new situation and settle into our new place, we will unconsciously sow our old seeds again. The roots of our problems are not in our circumstances or in our environment, but in the seeds we have sown and are now sowing in our own spirit. So if we want to overcome our problems, we must change and transform our own hearts. In Proverbs 4:23 it says:
23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Proverbs 4:23)
The time we have while we are under quarantine or working from home is a time in which we can examine our heart, do an inner self-analysis and self-evaluation of our actions and attitudes. In Greek the word for repentance is “metanoia,” and it means a turnaround in our thinking. Let us discover in ourselves the things that hold us back and keep us down, identify them, and cleanse them from our lives. Let us go on a spiritual diet and remove the leaven, the things that clog us up. The key to a better future is a change of our heart.
Follow the Lord’s Example — Forgive!
One of the ways to guard our heart is by not allowing bitterness and ill will to nest in it. Bitterness and unforgiveness are among the things that hold us back and hinder our progress in life. Our Lord is an example for us in every respect. Even when He was unjustly accused and crucified and humiliated on the cross, He still prayed for forgiveness for His executioners. In Luke 23:33-34 we read:
33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. (Luke 23:33-34)
Just think about it. What would have happened if Jesus had paid the full price for our salvation, but had not forgiven us our sins? Would we have been able to enter heaven without His forgiveness? Here we see an extremely important spiritual principle, and it is that forgiveness opens, while unforgiveness closes. If the roads before you are closed, then you must forgive or ask for forgiveness. Unforgiveness always isolates. It will stop friendships, connections, and opportunities that would otherwise open new roads in our lives. Unforgiveness stops the sources of blessing that flow into our lives. If you harbor unforgiveness in your heart, then this unforgiveness will go out from your spirit toward others and will cause them too to close themselves off to you.
Whether your past experiences were good or bad — do not try to sow them in the fresh soil of the new place and the new acquaintances you establish after the crisis.
On the basis of everything we have said so far, we could make the following summary: Forgiveness opens relationships. So do not lock up your life with unforgiveness. Do not stop your springs of blessing by refusing to forgive. May God help us to forgive everyone who has hurt or offended us.
Do Not Take Revenge!
If we do not forget that God is our source, we will not take revenge, nor become bitter against people. In Romans 12:17-21 we read the exhortation of the Apostle Paul.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21)
When we try to take revenge ourselves, we usurp God’s position. Let us leave revenge to God. He explicitly tells us that it belongs to Him. A time of crisis can breed enmities. But it is precisely in this time of crisis that we must learn to forgive one another, to love one another and not take offense, but to move forward together.
Do Not Forget Who Your Source Is!
If we do not forget that God is our source, we will not stop believing that God will bring us out of the crisis. In Habakkuk 3:17-19 it says:
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, (Habakkuk 3:17)
No grapes, no wine.
though the olive crop fails (Habakkuk 3:17)
No oil.
and the fields produce no food, (Habakkuk 3:17)
This means no grain and no bread.
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, (Habakkuk 3:17)
This means no meat and no milk. But in spite of all this lack and all this crisis, Habakkuk says:
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. 19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. (Habakkuk 3:18-19)
Whatever crisis we have, the Lord will not leave us in the crisis. It says that He “enables me to tread on the heights.” At this moment I may be badly off and without work, without money and without health, but if my inner heart is well — “everything I do flows from it.” And the Lord will bring it about that I come out of my crisis and again “tread on the heights.”
We must continue to rejoice in the Lord, to honor Him and glorify Him. This does not mean being in some kind of euphoria and pretending that everything is fine when it is not. That is why we have the Psalms, in which we find words with which to weep before God. And when we are in a crisis, we can weep before God. But the point is to weep before Him, not to reject Him. The point is that our hope, our expectation, our faith should be in Him.
In a time of crisis we meet financial difficulties. The unemployed at the labor office increase with each passing day. It is possible that we will be laid off and lose our jobs. When we pass through a crisis, we are tempted to look to people and expect one person or another to help us. We deceive ourselves by thinking that the good things in our life come from our parents or from our employers or from our friends. In the New Testament it is clearly stated that the source of every good thing is God (James 1:16-17).
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:16-17)
From God comes no temptation. From Him comes every good and perfect gift.
We are often tempted to think that the things in our life depend on people. But if we begin to think this way, we will be disappointed and become easily wounded and filled with unforgiveness. Your friends, the connections you have, the government, social services, the municipality, the enterprise, the company you work for, the church, the pastor, even your family, are not your source. Your source is God! In Hebrews 13:5-6 it says:
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6)
Remember this promise of God: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”! And also Psalm 34:9-10:
9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. (Psalm 34:9-10)
The love of money affects not only those who have much money, but also those who have no money. Because, when you have no money, you are afraid for tomorrow. This fear for tomorrow makes you clutch the little you have, and this anxiety turns you into a lover of money. So, even without being rich, you can still be a lover of money. That is why God says: “Keep your lives free from the love of money.” The love of money is a trap into which we can fall. So that we do not fall into the trap of the love of money, we must not fear the crisis, because God has promised that He “will never leave us and never forsake us”!
Do Not Stop Honoring God!
If we do not forget that God is our source, we will not stop honoring Him even when we are in a crisis. A tremendous example for us in this respect is the righteous Job (Job 1:13-22).
13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” 16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” 17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” 18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” 20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:13-22)
Job did not stop honoring God even in a time of the greatest crisis. And afterward, even when his health was afflicted and his wife challenged him to blaspheme God, he continued to worship God in the crisis.
6 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” 7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. 9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. (Job 2:6-10)
Job lost everything he had — oxen, donkeys, servants, sons and daughters, and even his health, but in all this he continued to honor God. So we are called, in a time of crisis, to continue honoring God with everything we have. This honoring of God also includes our giving.
Giving Opens Heaven
If we do not forget that God is our source, we will honor Him and believe in Him. We will not stop sowing and giving our tithe even in a time of crisis. We will give, because just as forgiveness opens relationships, so giving opens heaven. In Luke 6:38 we read:
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38)
If you want little to be given to you, then you give little. If you want much to be measured to you, then you measure much.
And also in Malachi 3:7-12 it says:
7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. (Malachi 3:7-9)
If we close ourselves off, if we do not give, then we come under a curse.
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty. (Malachi 3:10-12)
Should we stop giving in a time of crisis? No. We must be generous. We may not be able to give as much as we gave before the crisis, but here it is not a matter of a set amount, but of proportion. Ten percent is always ten percent. If you have much, it will be much. If you have little, it will be little.
We must know that, because God is our Source, everything we have is His. When some people hear about the tithe, they think that the tithe means that only one tenth of what we have is God’s, and the remaining nine tenths are ours. But it is not so. Everything we have is God’s, because God created us, He gave us life. Have we brought anything into the world? Has anyone been born with a briefcase of money or with a house? No. As Job says: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.” (Job 1:21) Because whatever they bury you with, in the end you will decay and turn to dust. You will take nothing with you. So everything we have is from God — not only one tenth, but everything. In Deuteronomy 8:18 it says:
18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. (Deuteronomy 8:18)
If you receive a salary, it is because God has given you health, God has given you wisdom, God has given you the abilities to work. God has given you a job, God has given you to have favor with your superiors so that they keep you in the job and you receive a salary. So everything we have is God’s. And in fact we give these ten percent to God not out of what we have, but out of what He has given us. We give as a sign of gratitude, thanksgiving, and awareness that everything we have is from Him, and we honor Him, giving “of His own to Him,” as King David says (1 Chronicles 29:14):
14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. (1 Chronicles 29:14)
By giving the tithe we remind ourselves that we are not our own source, but God is our Source. That is why, in a time of crisis, we give the tithe and honor God as our Source. This will help us come out of the crisis. Because God, as our Source, will not leave us in the crisis; He will bring us out of it. He has something better for us. If they have driven you out of your job, if they have laid you off — do not despair — God has a better job for you.
And even if you have some pains, if you are going through some crisis in your body — do not worry, this crisis has the purpose that the cause of the illness be found, that cause be removed, your illness be healed, your health be stabilized, and you recover completely.
Through whatever crisis we pass, we must not look at the fact that the crisis is leading us downward, but look toward the better place to which God is leading us. Even if you are ill with a deadly illness — do not despair. Because through this deadly illness you will enter into God’s glory. So you must not look downward, you must not look at the bad thing you are passing through, but you must look toward the good, toward which God is leading you.
We fear nothing, because Jesus Christ has freed us from the fear of death (Hebrews 2:15). If you are afraid of something, you have not fully surrendered to Jesus Christ. Because it is said of Christ that on the cross He destroyed “him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” (Hebrews 2:14-15). People who are not in Christ live in fear, they live in turmoil. We must understand them, because they have not been freed from the fear of death. Unlike them, we have been freed from this fear. But it is said, “For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.” (Hebrews 2:16). And Abraham’s descendants are those who have faith, because in Galatians 3:7 it says: “Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.” So we must not be afraid of anything, we must not be afraid even of death, and we must not panic. This is the next principle that will help us come out of the crisis.
Do Not Panic!
In order to come out of the crisis, we must not panic.
If you have been laid off, if you cannot find work, if they have told you that you must leave your apartment, whatever they tell you, you must guard yourself against stress. If you become frightened, if you become disturbed, stress will throw you into panic, and panic stops productivity. When you are in a moment of emotional instability, panic can take over and cause tension, anxiety, and tightness in your spirit. If you allow yourself to panic, this will inevitably stop your ability to think and act wisely. I am sure this is also laid down as one of the rules in national disasters. If there is an earthquake or another disaster, people must not panic, but there must be leaders to calm the people so that they can overcome the difficulties calmly. Because if everyone panics and falls into mass hysteria, then they will freeze and do nothing useful to get out of the situation. But you can do something, if you know what can be done.
Panic leads to a “freeze.” To freeze means suddenly to seize up and be unable to do anything that is entirely natural to you and fully within your capabilities. For example, if a child is learning to play a musical instrument and has to perform in front of an audience. If it is a little girl and she plays the violin, she may play very well, but when she comes out on stage and all eyes are fixed on her, she may freeze and be unable to play anything. I remember that this once happened to me as well. As a student I was learning to play the guitar and had to take part in a musical production. I thought I knew how to play my piece, but when I came out on the stage of the concert hall and all the spotlights lit me up, I froze and nothing came of the whole thing. When a person freezes, he becomes unproductive.
Or take a footballer. He may be very good with the ball, but if for some reason he panics and freezes, he cannot score a goal even into an empty net.
Some time ago I remember there was an earthquake in Turkey. In the first earthquake there may have been casualties — I do not remember, but what struck me then was that in the aftershocks some of the people had panicked to such a degree that they began to jump out of windows and die, because panic kept them from thinking soberly. If you think about it realistically — how will jumping out of a window help you? You can only hasten your own death. But panic makes people freeze and begin to do things they would not otherwise do. That is precisely why, in a time of crisis, we must not panic. We must know: we have God; He is our Source; He can lead us through fire, through water, He can lead us through a net, He can allow “people to ride over our heads” (Psalm 66:12), but He will “bring us out to a place of abundance.” He has a plan for us. That is why we must not panic.
In the spiritual life, tension and panic blind our eyes to receiving God’s Word, suppress our spirit, upset our faith, rob our prayer life, and hinder the receiving of God’s answers. If we panic, we will stop praying, stop believing, stop reading God’s Word — which is precisely what can help us come out of the crisis. Without prayer we cannot receive answers and guidance from God.
How to Guard Ourselves from Panic?
How do we guard ourselves from panic? First, as far as possible, keep as close as you can to your normal way of life. If, before you were laid off, you went out in the morning to work, then after you are laid off — still go out in the morning — go for a coffee, for a walk, go pray by the sea, meet with friends, look for work. But do not shut yourself up at home and that is it — “there is no work, I will just sit here and wait until I die.” That way you will not find work. You must go out of the house, and you must do something.
Second, allow the Word and the Holy Spirit to serve you. If you read and pray, God’s Word and the Holy Spirit will bring freshness to your mind and create faith in your heart. Then this faith will open the door for God to act in your life.
Remember That God Is Sovereign
Because God is the Creator of everything, He has supreme authority over all creation. Here are several verses on this matter:
Nehemiah 9:6
6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. (Nehemiah 9:6)
God is King over everything. He is the maker and creator of everything visible and invisible. He controls our world.
Psalm 115:3
3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. (Psalm 115:3)
This is the difference between the idols, which are made by human hands and are completely lifeless and passive, and the living God, who is in heaven and “does whatever pleases him.”
King Nebuchadnezzar was exceedingly proud, but God humbled him and after a time restored his reason to him. In Daniel 4:35 the king, who was the greatest emperor of that time, says of the God of Israel:
35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:35)
God is sovereign. He can stop the virus from touching you. He can find you a job. He can do anything He wants, because He is God.
Job thought that he was righteous and did not deserve a single one of all the bad things that were happening to him. But when he realized that he was only a man, and as such could not call God to account for what He does, because God is an entirely different category of person than man, in Job 42:2 Job says to God:
2 “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. (Job 42:2)
God is almighty. If He intends to do something, nothing can stop Him.
So God is above everything. Moreover, He knows us. In Matthew 10:30 Jesus Christ said: “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” In Psalm 139:4 the psalmist says:
4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. (Psalm 139:4)
God knows us in detail, and He knows us not only in order to analyze us. He cares for us, thinks of us, has a plan for us. In 1 Peter 5:7 it says: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”!
Evil for Good
In His sovereignty, God can take the things that were planned for evil and turn them for good. For example, in Genesis 50:20 Joseph, once sold to the Ishmaelites but now become second after Pharaoh, says to his brothers:
20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20)
It was not good for Joseph when his brothers sold him to a caravan of slave traders who were Ishmaelites — descendants of Ishmael. It was not pleasant for him when he was unjustly accused and thrown into prison. When he interpreted the dream of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and the man forgot about him, and Joseph remained years more in prison — it was not pleasant. But a time came when God lifted him up and in a single day moved him from the bottom of the prison (though even there he was not at the bottom, but was an assistant warden). God raised him up from this lowly position to the highest position in the empire — to be second after Pharaoh. Pharaoh gave him his ring, gave him his chariot, and said to him: You rule the whole kingdom, you will be second after me. In Genesis 41:41-45 we read:
41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. 44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.” 45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt. (Genesis 41:41-45)
In all of this God worked His providence — so that when the famine came, his family would come and he would give them the best land, the greatest rights, and no one “dared touch them,” because their brother was Joseph (Genesis 47:11-12). So God turned the evil for good (Genesis 50:20).
A classic verse in this direction is another New Testament verse (Romans 8:28).
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
So whether it is a crisis, whether it is unemployment, whether it is a pandemic — whatever comes into our life — it works together for our good.
Let us return to Joseph. Because of his dreams his brothers had conspired to kill him, but Reuben interceded for him — instead of slaying him with their own hands, to lower him into a natural dried-up well in the wilderness, into an empty pit, and to leave him there to die a slow death of hunger and thirst. And they did it — they threw Joseph into the pit and were done with him (Genesis 37:24). But see what God caused to happen in the next moment (Genesis 37:25).
25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. (Genesis 37:25)
God knew that Joseph’s brothers would prefer to sell him rather than kill him, so He had arranged events in such a way that the caravan of Ishmaelites would pass by them at exactly that day and hour, so that Joseph’s life would be preserved and he would be taken to Egypt. If that caravan had not passed by at exactly that time, what would have happened? Joseph would have died of hunger and thirst in that pit, and everything would have been over. But things did not end that way. Why? Because God is in control, because He is sovereign. When they thought that they were already done with Joseph, God knew that they would prefer to sell him rather than kill him, and He brought it about that precisely then the caravan would pass by there, they would pull him out of the pit, sell him to them, and Joseph would go to Egypt. God wanted Joseph to be in Egypt, so that, when the time came, He could lift him up, make him second after Pharaoh. God wanted to use Joseph to save all of humanity at that time, by storing up food for seven years, so that, when the famine came, Joseph would have something to give them, and in this way preserve the lives of thousands of people, including his own family. Read the story of Joseph, and you will see how God is in control and how He turns evil for good.
Another example is with Esther. The enemy of the Jews, Haman, planned to slaughter all the Jews on one appointed day and hour — on the “thirteenth day of the twelfth month” (Esther 3:13). But on that very same day, through Esther, God brought it about that, instead of letting themselves be slaughtered, the Jews rose up against all their enemies and defeated them (Esther 9:1-17). And even before that, Haman, who was planning to hang Mordecai, was himself hanged on that same gallows (Esther 7:9-10). How did this happen? During the night, when the king wanted to sleep, God took sleep away from his eyes, and to pass the time he asked that the royal archives be read to him — from the chronicle book of the events during his reign. Then he learned that there was a man who had done good things for him — had saved his life by preventing an assassination attempt against him (Esther 6:1-3). When the king asked what this man’s name was, they told him: “Mordecai.” “What have we done for him?” the king asked. They told him: “Nothing.” Then the king ordered that they give him his robes, his crown, and his horse, and that the people render him royal honors (Esther 6:7-11).
God has His ways — He turned things around — He “turned their sorrow into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration” (Esther 9:22). Thus the Jewish feast of Purim was established. “Pur” means “lot,” and the meaning of this feast is that the lot of our life is determined not by our enemies, but by God (Esther 9:26).
You can read the book of Esther in order to learn about this wonderful story. The main idea of this book is that Satan may have a scheme, but God has His providence. And God’s providence always thwarts Satan’s scheme. This is seen also from the book of Job. In Job 38:2 God says:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? (Job 38:2)
So whatever happens, we must not grumble against God, but must know that He is sovereign, He is in control, He has a plan. He is above everything. He is not poor. He is not weak. He is not ignorant. He is almighty. And besides all this, He loves us! And He has confirmed it, by giving His Son for us. So when tragedies come into our life, when crises come — we can weep, we can say “Why?” — because we do not know the reasons for things. But we must never lose our faith that God has a plan for us, and that, in passing through the crisis, God will lead us into something better. He has in mind something better for you.
If the Crisis Is Inevitable — Do Not Delay It!
If a given crisis is inevitable, then delaying it will not stop it. Delaying the crisis can only deepen it. Of essential importance for the success of any undertaking is the seizing of the right moment. Often we remain in a place longer than we should, and thus bring on even more serious problems. These problems would never have arisen if we left the place of security and comfort at the right time.
When the time comes to leave, there will always be people who will want you to stay. Their desire will most often be based on personal feelings and sentimentality. But when God is leading you out of one place in order to bring you into another, you cannot afford to be deceived and base your decision on sentimental feelings rather than on the truth and on God’s will.
An interesting example on this matter we find in Acts 21:7-14. At that time the Apostle Paul knew that he would have to go through persecution and end up in prison. Nevertheless, he had set out toward Jerusalem. This was a crisis similar to Christ’s. If he had stayed in Caesarea, Paul would of course have delayed the crisis, but at the same time he would, first, have gone out of God’s will, and second, would have delayed not only his entering into the crisis, but also his coming out of it and his release from prison.
7 We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day. 8 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. (Acts 21:7-9)
10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’” (Acts 21:10-11)
This was a true prophecy about a coming crisis. “You will be bound and you will go to prison.” Would you want to go through such a thing? Perhaps you would say: “This is a warning from God, so I must not go to Jerusalem.”
12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. (Acts 21:12)
Luke and the rest of the Apostle Paul’s companions, Philip, his daughters, and the other friends who were present during the prayer, began to say to Paul: “Do not go to Jerusalem! Stay here so that we may serve the Lord together.”
13 Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.” (Acts 21:13-14)
The Apostle Paul was ready to die, and he knew that if he died for the faith, it would not be the end. Paul knew that death is simply a door through which we enter into God’s presence. If this was God’s will, the Apostle Paul was ready to pass through the crisis and enter into the new and better place that God had prepared for him. Paul knew what lay ahead of him, and he did not delay, but entered into the crisis without hesitation, because he lived in God’s time.
If we know that a given crisis through which we must pass is inevitable, we must pray that God will give us guidance and wisdom about when is the right moment to enter into it.