What to do in a crisis - step three

If you've reached this point after reading the two posts above this one, you'll know that I was noting David's responses to a devastating crisis in 1 Samuel chapter 30. His first response was to allow himself to grieve and then a second, and very important, response was to find strength in God.
These two steps are what gave David the courage and resilience to move on to step three: taking back what the enemy had stolen from him. 

One of the encouraging and exciting things about being a Christian is that God will often enable us to reclaim the things that the devil attempted to rob us of. This can happen in different ways, but it will always be life changing, and it begins with the step that David took in verse 8: bringing the crisis to God and asking Him what to do about getting back what the enemy has taken from us.

Of course, if someone has died, that doesn't usually mean that we'll get the person back. If our house burned down in a fire, it probably won't miraculously appear again. If we lost our job, we won't necessarily get it back again. If we were diagnosed with a terminal illness, we may or may not come to a place of complete healing. But there will be other ways that we can take back the hope, peace and victory that God wants us to have in life. It starts, though, with what David did in vs 8: asking God what we should take back, and how He wants us to do it.

Let's say, for example, that my crisis was caused by a diagnosis of sickness, or by an accident that caused disability: I need to know whether I'm to fight and pray for a miraculous healing… or whether the things I'm to take back are more in the area of hope, joy and the grace to live courageously in challenging circumstances. 

Let's say that my crisis was caused by slander that cast a slur on my reputation: I need to know whether to fight to clear my reputation, or whether the true spiritual battle is about learning to rise above that, leave my reputation in God's hands, and learn to live shame-free, despite the rumours.

Or let's say that my crisis was caused by a colleague's betrayal, by a business partner who defrauded me or who went bankrupt and lost funds I had entrusted to him: then I need to know whether it's right to pursue justice in a court of law, or whether to move on and trust that a faithful God can make it up to me in different ways.

And so, sometimes the things we need to take back are the seemingly intangible ones: things like hope and courage, the grace to forgive or the ability to trust again. And sometimes what we get back will be concrete and practical - like being healed of a disease, or the surprising provision I saw last year after my purse was stolen. (Read the story by clicking here.) Sometimes it's one or the other; sometimes it's both.

And so that's why our personal relationship with God is so important. If I've never learned to hear God's voice about what to do (step three), I won't know what I need to fight for. Or if I have never learned to find my strength in God (step two), I'm going to be too weak for the spiritual warfare involved.

David's example in 1 Samuel 30 gives me a clear example of how to respond in a crisis. But it also reminds me that I need to treasure and invest in my friendship with God during the good times too, so that I have a storehouse of His resources and will not be overwhelmed when a crisis comes along.