Meeting a Crisis In Faith

“... let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith...”

—Hebrews 12:1b-2a (NRSV)

Some periods in life are harder than others, and there are some times ahead, as perhaps they’ve passed behind us, where our faith to step—to take the next step—flounders, for lack of vision. Times like these occur in crisis.

When we most need faith, our faith is tested. That’s a tragic irony.

Crises have about them the nature of variegated panic. Never are crises simple. The complexities are genuinely overwhelming, and hope for a vision, for a purpose out of all this, disappears for a time. Sometimes the duration is much longer than we expect.

When our faith is being tested all we can do is meet the test in faith. But what does that mean?

The Basics of Faith in Crisis

In a crisis our moments become more intense. There seems to be no escapable moments. We must live them all; without the surety of hope we may be used to.

Each hour is a project in itself, and each day is a marathon. We struggle for time, and we struggle for meaning, because the feedback we get is that there is not enough time and not enough impact made for what we are doing.

The basics of faith are our only help to get through each hour; to make it through each day. With self-discipline we focus on getting the sleep we need—as best we can manage it. Sleep is the pivot point on which our health and wellbeing relies in crisis.

Faith is a thing of belief that God will lead us each step—each decision—each sequential second. Never more is it of great importance that we can rely on God in faith than in a crisis.

As we take each step, trusting God, we don’t need to be ‘happy’ so much, as content that we are searching, in faith, after God’s momentary will for our lives.

God will lead us, each second, each minute, each hour, each day, and through all our days, as long as the crisis lasts. And when we are through the crisis, we will praise God’s faithfulness to carry us through when we truly had no belief in ourselves—but we believed in him.

Faith is the only productive way of dealing with the crisis, for faith alone gives us the ability to take the next step when our hope is gone.

God made faith as a tool for life in a world we often feel lost in. No matter how lost, tormented, hemmed-in, or numb we feel, God is there through the faith-force inside us, giving us momentary direction, and just enough confidence to take the next step.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.