The Miracle of A Crisis

Question to think about: Can you see it as a tool?

They never thought it could happen to them. In a matter of seconds their life was turned upside down from one wrong decision.
The one wrong decision led to a boatload of problems.
The problems
seemed larger than life . . .
overwhelming them . . .
changing the way they saw the rest of life
and each other.
They were stuck in crisis.
The crisis ruled everything, including them.
Nothing changed for a few years.
Until they just could not take the pressure anymore.
Something changed.
They began to see their life differently.
Looking in from the outside, I can tell you their circumstance has not changed.
But, they have changed.
How?
They came to the end of themselves; there was nothing left in them.
Desperate, they asked God to take it away.
God did.
They felt relief from the pressure and peace that God was present and at work.
And . . . they continue to ask God help them see above the crisis rather than to be weighted down underneath it.
Here's the miracle in the whole thing: They now see the crisis as a tool of God to reveal Christ.

The Apostle Paul explained:
If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus' sake, which makes Jesus' life all the more evident in us. While we're going through the worst, you're getting in on the best! (2 Corinthians 4:7-12, The Message)

Stop.
Ask for the miracle of changing your view of a crisis and/or circumstance.
Choose to surrender everything you are facing.
Look at life happenings as a tool to reveal Christ.

Learning with you to miraculously see a crisis as a tool,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2009 All Rights Reserved)