Crisis comes when we least expect it and always when we don' want it. But why does it come? I have heard this question many times. Usually the answer comes back in various ways. Many times it comes back as "I am being punished for something I did" or "The devil is just out to get me." Or even "It's just life, bad things happen to everyone so why not me." All of these answers have a negative spin to them. Does this mean that every time things go wrong or a crisis comes that it because of a something negative? I don't believe so. Stay with me, and I pray you will learn what I have learned recently about a crisis situation.First let's look at Job from the Old Testament. The book starts with God commenting on how Job seeks after God and points out his righteousness. He is not commenting to the angels or another person, He is commenting to Satan. Satan asks permission to bring about a major crisis in Jobs life. God grants the request with one condition, that he cannot take Jobs life. So within a short time, Job loses his wealth, his children, and his health. He also has his wife speak very badly to him (I am sure after losing all ten of her children at once she was also feeling the effects of the crisis) and his best friends come and stare at him for 7 days before they tell him how horrible of a person he is and that they know that he must of dome something horrible for God to do this to him. In the end, God corrects all of them, Job, his friends, and his wife. So the purpose of God allowing Satan to come after him was 3 fold: 1) Satan wanted to prove to God that Job was not as good as God thought, 2) God wanted to prove to Job and his friends and all who heard his story how great and awesome God is and How he can create wonderful things out of tragedy, and 3) Job and his friends needed some fine tuning in their attitudes toward people and toward God and how God works. This last reason I believe is the greatest of them all. Because after Job learned the lesson and was fine-tuned, he was blessed and became even wealthier and more righteous than before. The end of the story is greater than the beginning.
So why do crisis events/bad things happen to us as followers of Jesus? For the same reasons. God not only wants to show us and others His great power and how much He loves us, but also to make us more into the image of Jesus so that we can be even more able to further the plans God has for us. And just like Job, the end of the story for us can be greater than the beginning. The hard part is recognizing the refining and attitude adjustment God is doing in our life. It is never easy to go through a crisis, but if we keep our attention on the One who made us, we will see great things in the end.
Are these crisis events that come our way just for us? Again looking at the story of Job, the crisis was centered on Job, but the effects reached farther than Job; his wife and friends were affected as well as all those that have heard his story. They all learned that a crisis can be good in the end. They all learned that was Satan had meant for evil to harm Job, was turned into a victory not only for Job, but for God.
If and when you find yourself in a crisis situation (because they will come), be asking God what the purpose is and what you need to do or what area He is targeting to transform into something wonderful. Just like Job, you will have friends and family tell you that you must have done something horrible or that Satan is out to get you. It is quite possible that Satan is out to destroy you, and maybe, just maybe it is the result of something you have chosen to do, but keep it positive. Search your heart and soul and attitudes. The purpose of it is to make you more into the kind of person that God wants and needs you in order to fulfill His purpose for you AND for those around you AND for all that hear about what God has done for you.
I leave you with this final thought from Philippians 1:6 : "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."
