How to Survive a Crisis?
What is a crisis?
A time of great disagreement, confusion, or suffering, experiencing a time of great difficulty, danger, or suffering.
Psalm 34:19 in the Amplified Bible says: “Many evils confront the [consistently] righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
John 16:33 in the Amplified Bible says: “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]”
Psalm 34:6-10 in the New Living Translation says: “In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; He saved me from all my troubles. For the angel of the Lord is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear him. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need. . .and those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing. “
Psalms 84:11 GW The Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord grants favour and honour. He does not hold back any blessing from those who live innocently.
- Determine what is needed?
- Make a list of what your needs are.
Philippians 4:19 (WNT) But my God–so great is His wealth of glory in Christ Jesus–will fully supply every need of yours
Philippians 4:6 “Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.”
First, you must determine your needs. Many of us make a shopping list before we go to the store. But how many of us make lists of the true needs in our lives?
We must be clear on the difference between our needs and our “wants.” When we are in a crisis, we must know the sometimes-fine distinction between our needs and our wants, and we must be able to figure it out quickly.
The Bible and wants – Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart’’
Psalm 20:4 “May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, And fulfill all your purpose.”
Desire meaning – Request, petition
2. Pray for your specific needs
Jesus wants you to be specific when you ask for your needs
Matthew 20: 32 When Jesus heard them, he stopped and called, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 “Lord,” they said, “we want to see!” 34 Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Instantly they could see! Then they followed him.
Jesus stopped to speak with them and asked them what exactly they wanted, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Jesus did not answer their prayer until they told Him specifically that they wanted to receive their sight. Then Jesus had compassion and immediately answered their request by healing their eyesight.
Most people present that day knew what these blind men needed most from the miraculous healer they were following. But “Have mercy on us” is probably how these two blind men begged of all who passed by. Jesus wanted them to make it clear that they were asking for miraculous healing rather than money.
As God, Jesus knew exactly what they wanted, but He asked them to be specific. Only when they publicly declared precisely what they wanted did they receive their sight.
3. Acquire Only What You Need
Exodus 16 3 “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.” 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they will gather food, and when they prepare it, there will be twice as much as usual.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “By evening you will realize it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 7 In the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaints, which are against him, not against us. What have we done that you should complain about us?” 8 Then Moses added, “The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and bread to satisfy you in the morning, for he has heard all your complaints against him. What have we done? Yes, your complaints are against the Lord, not against us.”
17 So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. 18 But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.
Matthew 6:11 (NIV) Give us today our daily bread.
Proverbs 14:23, “Hard work always pays off; mere talk puts no bread on the table.”
In a crisis, push the “pause” button.
4. Do Not Live Beyond Your Means
In a time of crisis—or any time, for that matter—you should not live beyond your ability to pay your bills and to maintain what you have acquired. This is simple common sense. Too often, however, it seems that simple common sense is a rare commodity. It is a matter of needs versus wants again.
Live within your means. Decideto do so.
Luke 14:28-29 (NLT) “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.”
5. Withdraw from the Unnecessary
When you have determined the difference between your true needs and your “extras,” you can draw the line between the necessaries and the unnecessaries. The necessaries of life are the things you truly need—food, shelter, and a little bit more. The unnecessaries include the luxuries—that club membership, that shopping expedition, those tickets to the concert series.
Acts 27: 18 “We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. 21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.”
Proverbs 21:20 In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.
6. Withhold on major spending
While you should remain busy and work hard, you should not undertake big, new projects in a time of crisis. This is another variation on the same idea: in a time of crisis, make a conscious decision to curtail your plans for improving your property or whatever you manage. Governments are doing it. Companies are doing it. You have to do it, too.
James 4:3 New Living Translation (NLT) 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
Philippians 4:12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
7. Value what you have
I like this suggestion most of all. It stimulates resourcefulness, and at the same time it cultivates an “attitude of gratitude.”
Whether your possessions are few or you have more possessions than you can count, take stock of them with fresh eyes. They are valuable. Thank God for each item, big or small. Look for the unusual things—that little pot you keep your house key in, the wooden table next to the front door where you put the pot, the house key itself.
1 Timothy 6:6-12 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
8. Living by Faith
Matt. 6:33 NKJV “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”
There is no crisis too big for God and you to handle together.
Therefore, we can say with Paul, who wrote to the Roman Christians in their ongoing crisis situations:
Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? [In other words, every crisis known to the world.] As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. [We are overcomers.] For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the [unconquerable, ever present] love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord