CRISIS MANAGMENT
DAY 119: I'm not going to lie; today was a tough day. I generally pride myself on being able to manage a crisis, but today, the crisis managed me. Try as I might, I could not control all the factors and it is still a crisis. So, for this girl who loves "happy" there were tears. Lots of tears. Tears I rarely cry flooded until my head ached and I was actually thirsty. I think I cried myself dehydrated.
The real thirst I felt was for God to enter into my despair. So rather than tell myself I was too distraught to spend time with God, I sat down to read his daily Word almost demanding that God meet me, help me, rescue me. He did not disappoint.
Today the scheduled scripture was the story of Hannah in the Old Testament. She was a wife who was desperate to be a mother but God had withheld children. She was in a crisis she could not fix. She was taunted for her bareness and even her husband did not understand her despair. So she went to the house of God, to talk to the only one who could really feel her pain.
1 Samuel 1:10 Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord.
12 As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her. 13 Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. 15 “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. 16 Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.” 17 “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”
Surely there is a time and a place to cry out bitterly to the Lord, in great anguish and sorrow. Who can understand pain, betrayal, loss, hurt, or rejection more than God. Rather than feeling weak and whiny for dumping it at His feet, God used Hannah to remind me that when I am in turmoil, there is a place of Peace - a person of Peace. I can lay my agony at God's throne and ultimately "go in peace" confident that God is able to walk me through this - or any crisis. So I wept- bitterly! I cried out to God with great anguish and sorrow - so much sorrow.
Then, after wailing my despair, I listened and found Peace. God spoke His wisdom into my situation as I moved to the Psalm for the day.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
God was clear. If you are in despair, give thanks. Instantly I thought of a verse planted deep in my heart: "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
God's will, even in this circumstance, is to give thanks to Him. So I began to give thanks... at first for the only things I could think of in my sad fog... Thanks God for the great weather. Thanks for the sun, the moon and the stars.Thanks for my pets. Thanks for my husband. Thanks for my kids. Thanks for loving me. Thanks for your Word. Thanks for.... And the thanks began to pour out.
As I was remembering all His goodness, Peace began to pour in. "Who is like our God? Is anything too hard for Him?" I felt the questions in my soul. No, nothing is too hard for him - not even this. And as if God knew I would need more convincing, the words of the Psalm, which I know He intended for me on this day, reminded me of even more reasons to praise, thank and trust God. Do you need these words, too?
2 Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord?
Who can ever praise him enough?
3 There is joy for those who deal justly with others
and always do what is right.
Day 119 of 365
1 Samuel 1-2
1 Samuel 3
1 Samuel 4
John 5:24-47
Psalm 106:1-12
Proverbs 14:30-31
Today the scheduled scripture was the story of Hannah in the Old Testament. She was a wife who was desperate to be a mother but God had withheld children. She was in a crisis she could not fix. She was taunted for her bareness and even her husband did not understand her despair. So she went to the house of God, to talk to the only one who could really feel her pain.
1 Samuel 1:10 Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord.
12 As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her. 13 Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. 15 “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. 16 Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.” 17 “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”
Then, after wailing my despair, I listened and found Peace. God spoke His wisdom into my situation as I moved to the Psalm for the day.
Psalm 106: 1 Praise the Lord!
His faithful love endures forever.
God was clear. If you are in despair, give thanks. Instantly I thought of a verse planted deep in my heart: "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
God's will, even in this circumstance, is to give thanks to Him. So I began to give thanks... at first for the only things I could think of in my sad fog... Thanks God for the great weather. Thanks for the sun, the moon and the stars.Thanks for my pets. Thanks for my husband. Thanks for my kids. Thanks for loving me. Thanks for your Word. Thanks for.... And the thanks began to pour out.
As I was remembering all His goodness, Peace began to pour in. "Who is like our God? Is anything too hard for Him?" I felt the questions in my soul. No, nothing is too hard for him - not even this. And as if God knew I would need more convincing, the words of the Psalm, which I know He intended for me on this day, reminded me of even more reasons to praise, thank and trust God. Do you need these words, too?
2 Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord?
Who can ever praise him enough?
3 There is joy for those who deal justly with others
and always do what is right.
4 Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people;
come near and rescue me.
5 Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones.
Let me rejoice in the joy of your people;
let me praise you with those who are your heritage.
come near and rescue me.
5 Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones.
Let me rejoice in the joy of your people;
let me praise you with those who are your heritage.
And on and on it went - until like Hannah, I could walk away in Peace having giving it all to God and gotten it all from God.
This is not the first crisis or trial I have encountered. It will not be the last. The trials will come and go but God's gentle care does not. He isn't just our God to rejoice with; He is there when we need to climb in His lap and weep bitterly. By faith, we can also know that the pain we experience today will eventually yield to God's purposes to deliver good and favor as He wills it to be. For now, even trials can give way to peace when we realize that Peace is a person not just a place.
This is not the first crisis or trial I have encountered. It will not be the last. The trials will come and go but God's gentle care does not. He isn't just our God to rejoice with; He is there when we need to climb in His lap and weep bitterly. By faith, we can also know that the pain we experience today will eventually yield to God's purposes to deliver good and favor as He wills it to be. For now, even trials can give way to peace when we realize that Peace is a person not just a place.
Day 119 of 365
1 Samuel 1-2
1 Samuel 3
1 Samuel 4
John 5:24-47
Psalm 106:1-12
Proverbs 14:30-31
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