Crisis, Or Christ Is...?

[dave c]

HEALING SHELTER MINISTRIES #132d, Re-Written 05AUG09

The Disciples’ Prayer—Part Four: Crisis, or Christ Is…?

by rev dave c

Mt 6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "`Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one' (NIV).

Crisis. While discussing the Identification aspect of The Disciples’ Prayer, it is important to touch on the subject of crisis and crisis resolution. Learning to recognize the sources of, and methods to overcome, crisis is essential to our development physically, mentally, and spiritually. Early on, the Bible describes the occasion of crisis entering into the routine of our lives.

Genesis 3:16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." 17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, `You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return" (NIV).

Having disobeyed God’s command to not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve introduced uncertainty, difficulty, and pain into the daily lives of all humanity. It was at this point in our history that sin and the conditions for crisis became a “natural” aspect of human existence. That is not how we were created. Back in Chapter Two of Genesis, verses 15-18, we are told, The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (NIV).

Notice the difference in language between Chapters Two and Three: Adam was created to work the Garden and take care of it, but now it would be through painful toil...by the sweat of his brow...and the first couple now faced the uncertainty of life because of the certainty of death. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve ate freely from the trees in the Garden of Eden, now they would have to fight the thorns and thistles in order to eat the plants of the field. What a different reality of existence. This is the world we know, the world in which we live—a world full of struggle and difficulty...and then we die.

According to the Micro$oft Encarta World English Dictionary 2001, a crisis is, 1. A Time Of Worry, 2. A Critical Moment, and/or 3. A Turning Point—where A Time Of Worry may be further subdivided into a situation or period in which life is A. Uncertain, B. Difficult, or C. Painful, especially a time when action must be taken to avoid complete disaster or breakdown. Matters of daily needs, health, finances, relationships, physical/mental/spiritual danger, social position, trials and tests, or any other of a myriad of situations are potential catalysts for anxiety. In spite of how it feels as we pass through them, God utilizes these times of crisis to our benefit. He can use them to break our sinful pride, they can serve as periods of training, and they can teach us to trust Him spiritually, emotionally, and materially. It is during the occasions of crisis that we reach a point where the price for change is less than the cost of remaining the same. Without crisis, we are not inclined to turn to Jesus.

Resolution. For answers and relief from crisis, people stubbornly search within themselves and within the World as they deny the Truth of Christ’s sacrifice for our sins—all the while rejecting His proffered grace, His forgiveness, and His freedom from anxiety. The best that people without God living within them can hope for in this life is to learn to “cope” (read: “Put up with anxiety born of crisis”), or to be sedated by distractions, or to be medicated beyond caring; then they die and go into eternal torment. How different is life for the submitted Christian. Listen once more to the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:25-34, "...I tell you, do not worry [“do not be anxious”] about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ... Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? … So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself (NIV). The history of humanity is a recounting of people seeking resolution to crisis—resolutions that are insufficient and short-lived. God loves us so much that He will allow all manner of suffering, if that is what it takes to bring us to our knees in recognition of His sovereignty. The Holy Spirit reveals the Lord to us during times of our greatest need in hopes that we will accept Jesus Christ as the only perfect, eternal answer. Amen.