Your crisis may not come as a devastating medical diagnosis, but given time you will face things that will rock your world. So what can you do when your world is crashing down around you?
Although medical science has made significant advances in recent years, a diagnosis of cancer still has the power to overwhelm. Let the doctor’s diagnosis include “stage three,” and the level of fear ratchets up yet again. And should the prognosis include a life expectancy of less than two years the effect can be absolutely devastating. That’s what someone very close to me is facing as I write today’s blog. In two weeks time, her world has gone from safe and secure to one of fearful uncertainty and confusion. Needless to say my heart goes out to her and her family.
So where do they go from here? What do they do now? Of course, they’re going to get the best medical advice available before deciding on a course of treatment, but beyond that what can they do? For that matter, what can any of us do when our world is falling apart?
If you haven’t been there you will be. No one goes through this life unscathed. Your crisis may not come as a devastating medical diagnosis, but given time you will face things that will rock your world. So what can you do when your world is crashing down around you?
Ask for help. That’s what Jesus did. “He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’” (Mt. 26:37-38).
There was nothing Peter, James or John could do to change the situation; still Jesus wanted them with Him. He understood the value of their presence, He knew their nearness would sustain Him in a way nothing else could. No one could drink that dreadful cup for Him, but having their spiritual support and physical presence would give Him the strength to do what had to be done.
When your world is falling apart there is usually not much your friends can do to put it back together. Nonetheless, the emotional support of those you know and trust can be enormously valuable. And their prayers can be a source of great comfort, enabling you to bear things you never imagined yourself capable of bearing, so ask for their help.
Go to Father God. Throw yourself on His mercy. Trust Him with your situation. That’s what Jesus did. “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me’” (Mt. 26:39).
When your world is crumbling around you, run to the Father and throw yourself into His arms. Let Him hold you and comfort you. Meditate on what it means for Him to be your Father. That truth has often given me special comfort, especially during the hard times. Being a father myself I know the feelings a father has for his children. Nothing pains me more than seeing my daughter suffer, nor does anything bless me more than her happiness. Whatever touches her touches me. If I, a mere mortal, have these kinds of feelings for my daughter then I can only imagine how much more Father God cares for us, His children. “As a father pities his children,” said the Psalmist, “So the Lord pities those who fear Him” (Ps. 103:13).
I am especially sensitive to this truth at the moment because my daughter is struggling with several health issues and she has been for several years. No matter what I am doing, Leah’s situation is never far from my mind. When I lie in bed at night awaiting sleep, my mind is searching for solutions. My first thought upon waking in the morning is a prayer for her. When I pray, her needs take precedence over almost everything else. I am her father, and I am touched by the feelings of her infirmities. What hurts her hurts me. Her pain is my pain.
Is not my concern for Leah but a dim reflection of Father God’s concern for us? Jesus said it like this, “If you then, being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Mt. 7:11).
Choose to trust the Father’s heart. That’s what Jesus did. Even though everything within Him was repulsed by that foul cup and all it portended He still trusted. And He prayed, “…‘Yet not as I will, but as you will’” (Mt. 26:39).
Trusting God is easy when everything is going well, but let your world come crashing down and the enemy will tempt you to rail at God. When my grandson was just a little guy he was always crashing into things and hurting himself. But instead of running to us for comfort, he would run away. And if we tried to comfort him, he would strike out at us screaming, “Don’t touch me. Leave me alone!”
Although we were not in any way responsible for his pain, he blamed us. I cannot help thinking how like him we are. Let life deal us a crushing blow and we are quick to blame God. We are tempted to question His goodness and to rail at Him for the “injustices” we are suffering.
You have a choice. You can respond like my grandson responded to us when he was hurt or you can respond like Jesus did in Gethsemane. You can push God away or you can cling to Him, putting your trust in Him and Him alone. Of course that does not mean you do not pray for a miracle but your hope must be in God and God alone.
Continue to trust Father God even when your circumstances don’t appear to be changing. That’s what Jesus did. “…and (Jesus) prayed the third time, saying ‘My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away except I drink it, may your will be done’” (Mt. 26:44).
Ultimately, Jesus suffered unspeakably and died an excruciating death; still He refused to doubt the Father’s trustworthiness. Even when it seemed Father God had abandoned Him, (Mt. 27:46) Jesus continued to trust Him. And as He was dying, “Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit’” (Luke 23:46).
Things looked bleak as Jesus’ friends took his mutilated body down from the cross and prepared it for burial. Saturday was gloomy, things looked hopeless, but that wasn’t the end of the story. Sunday was coming! And on Sunday Father God turned the tragedy of the cross into the glory of the resurrection. Suddenly it all made sense!
I don’t know how God is going to turn your situation around, or how He is going to bring glory out of the tragedy you are living, but I am confident He will! And until His deliverance manifests itself we have the promise of His presence to sustain us – “I will never leave you or forsake you.” We have His miracles and supernatural healings to encourage us. No matter how grim our situation, or how hopeless it appears, we know that nothing is impossible for Him. God can turn it around! And ultimately, we have the promise of eternal life. “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies…’” (Jn.11:25).
This is Richard Exley straight from the heart.
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