“He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm”. (Mark 4:39).
Looking at the world today you don’t need to be told that there is a huge crisis going on and no one is spared. However, only those who learn to constantly exercise their faith in Jesus will be spared from the stormy sea ahead.
One may ask about how to exercise his faith over the on rushing satanic storms. Here are a few tips.
1)Live by the day
Live by the day and resist the burden of worst-case scenarios. The devil loves to pile pressure on us with a bid to weigh us down and forcing us to think about worst-case scenarios. He does this in order to weaken our faith and take captive our hope in the word of God for the moment.
No wonder Jesus advised us to take it one day at a time, saying: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”. (Matthew 6:34).
2)Keep your eyes always on the Giver and not the Gift alone.
Another thing to do is to keep our eyes on God in the moment of crisis more than our desperate needs. Now this may be difficult since a desperate man just wants answers to his prayers.
However, focusing more on our need alone to the exclusion of God could easily drag us into depression especially if there is a delay in anticipated prayer. We should stay focused on the giver than on the gift in order to remain focused in a moment of crisis.
3)There is no life without its own share of disappointments.
No wonder a sage said:” Disappointment is inevitable but courage is a choice “. When it came down to the ugly reality of disappointment David was initially distressed but soon rallied his strength to deploy an attitude of faith with the scripture saying “David encouraged himself in the Lord his God”. (1 Samuel 30:6).
David did not focus on his problems. He lifted his eyes to see God. By staying positive and focusing on God and not his losses he mustered enough strength to pursue his adversaries and he recovered all he lost.
4)Beware of the twin attacks
In the moment of crisis, the devil doubles his attacks with the twin attacks of doubt and fear. Once we allow these attacks we begin to wonder if prayers are even answered. Once we are consumed with these twin attacks we descend into helping ourselves and no longer needing to wait on God in prayers. This has brought devastating results to many saints.
No better example here than King Saul who lost his kingdom to the fear of men. Admitting his disobedience, he told Samuel: “ I have disobeyed your instructions and the LORD’s command, for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded”. (1 Samuel 15:24).
In the moment of crisis even if our hearts deceives us God’s infallible words will not deceive us. We should regularly consult the word of God and the Holy Spirit and stay in faith.
Oftentimes, we will not find God in men’s opinion but in his own word and hence the need to frequently consult with his word and store it away in our hearts to counter fear. To this end, the Psalmist says: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You”. (Psalm 119:11).
5)Recall God’s past -victories.
Another attitude to have in a moment of crisis is to recall God’s post-victories in our lives while affirming that the God who stepped in to deliver us in the past will also come through for us in our present moment of need. This David did quite well while addressing Goliath, saying: “ The Lord who delivered me from the claws of a lion and a bear will also keep me safe from this Philistine”. (1 Samuel 17:37).
6)This too shall pass
In a moment of crisis, believe that this too shall pass and feed only on the word of God and not hearsay. Believe that the Lord who has kept you through the challenges isn’t abandoning you in the midst of it all.
The scripture says: “ So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you” Deuteronomy 31:6)
Reading
1 Samuel 30: 1- 18
