I have often heard, there are no atheists in foxholes. When people are faced with a crisis in their life, suddenly they become religious, praying, making deals with God, searching the scriptures for a promise they can hold the LORD to, some even start attending church. It is almost like somewhere in our brain is this spot that tells us “go to the LORD.” But as soon as the crisis has passed, so do their thoughts, promises to the LORD, and they even stop attending church. They go on with their life like nothing happened without even a thanks or recognition that the LORD helped get them through their problems.
Ever wonder what would happen if the LORD allowed the crisis to continue and the circumstances don’t change? Individuals going through extended crisis in their life might not be filled with anger but wonder why this is happening to them. Why LORD are you doing this to me? What have I done to deserve this treatment?
These are the aged old questions. In the Book of Habakkuk, we read, O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore, the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore, wrong judgment proceedeth.
Even the prophet was wondering why the LORD was not responding to his prayers. When the crisis in your life continues, and it seems that the LORD no longer is hearing your prayers, you might find yourself in that paradox of being a “disbelieving believer.” If asked you would say God exist, but you feel as if He has forgotten you. The greater the crisis, the more intense is your feeling of being alone and forsaken. Like Habakkuk, O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear?
The very foundation of life is about God. Whether you are shaking you fist at God, or see Him so distant that His existence is of no relevance in your life, or you are trembling before Him because you feel this is judgment on your life, the fact is God is there and does care. Life is about knowing Him or avoiding Him. It is about spiritual allegiances. Who will you trust when your life is falling apart? Who will you worship?
As you attempt to answer these questions, expect to find some fallacies in your thinking about your relationship with God. In other words, you may think you know God or know all you want to know about Him, but you don’t! If you find yourself filled with anger towards God that is more the reason to understand who He is.
In the book of II Kings, chapter 4 and verses 9-37, we find a story of a woman who had the desire of her heart met only to have it cruelly taken away from her.
In verses 20 and 37, we find these words: "And when he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he [the child] sat on her knees till noon, and then died. . .. then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out."
In this passage of scripture, we have a touching scene. As you study the background of this passage, you discover that this woman had experienced an unexpected blessing and had suffered an unexpected tragedy. The child that had been given to her came because of divine intervention. The prophet Elisha had told her that she would be rewarded for her hospitality by receiving the deepest desires of her heart.
Those desires were expressed and fulfilled in the birth of her first-born son. The child had an accident that resulted in death. The child had been rushed to its mother, and it died on her knees at the noon hour.
Her questions would no doubt be the same you would be asking. "Why?" Why did God give her a son and then take him away so suddenly and unexpectedly? Why was she mourning the only enjoyment that life could afford?
Each step along our journey is an appointed step and each day of our journey is divinely planned. There are no accidents with God. He doeth all things well, and He is never mistaken in His actions or judgments. When the calamities of earth come upon us, we have the power to overcome that calamity by the exercise of our faith. If our confidence in God fails, then we have no recourse to take and no redress from the wounds we suffer. Certainly, the individual who abandons their reliance upon the Lord in such situations suffers a greater loss than the situation itself can produce. Abandon your faith, and you have parted company with your comfort and your condolence in times of calamity. Abandon your faith and the fabric of life begins to fall apart. The whole universe becomes a dreary chaos without faith in the LORD.
The one stabilizing force in your life during times of tremendous stress is your trust in the care and concern of the LORD. Certainly, God is not exposed to accident in any measure. He has every detail of your life planned, and He knows every turn that the road of life will take.
Doubtless, the severest crisis in life will come in our direction. Everyone will row in the boat of suffering. We will face the sudden visitations of serious illness. Our happiness will be interrupted by the call that a loved one has died. The very foundation upon which our reasoning powers sit may be demolished by circumstances beyond our control.
The burdens, of life, will cartwheel in without warning and without relief, yet our faith will bridge the gap and hold us steady in such a situation. The thing we need to learn from the life of this woman is the fact that no calamity can touch the sacred relationship that exists between God and His children. The God of heaven exercises a continual and perpetual surveillance over His people. His infinite love and power is always taking notice of our struggles and our serious situations. The thing that injures you injures Him. The thing that brings grief into your own heart brings grief into His as well.
When we have surrendered our life to the LORD, we enjoy a relationship in the realm of faith that upholds us every moment of every hour. In the LORD there is an arm that never tires and an ear that is never heavy. There is a concern on the part of the LORD that never fades and never fails.
We are not victims of chance. God places people in our life for a reason. This woman, because she was kind to the prophet, was given a son. Because she knew the prophet’s relationship with the LORD, she could go to him for help. The things that come our way come only by divine permission. He knows how much we can take and He knows when we have reached the point of saturation. The things that He allows in our lives are designed to strengthen our faith and confirm our love to the Redeemer. When the woman of the text realized the tremendous loss, she was suffering; she did something about it immediately. She looked at her loss and put her faith into action. She did not know all that faith would accomplish, but she insisted on exercising it to the limitations of its own ability. She made faith take her as far as it could go. She put faith to work on a around-the-clock schedule with no time off for leisure or rest.
This account of the Shunamite woman’s loss seems to suggest unusual faith ought to be the usual, rather than the unusual. We ought to expect great things from God simply because He has promised us great things. He has pledged us His unremitting care and concern. He has told us that He would never leave us nor forsake us. He has promised to be present in every situation that we face in life. The calamity of all calamities would be our failure to trust Him in such situations.
The greatest loss you can suffer in this world is the loss of your faith. When faith is gone, everything else is gone as well. When faith in God goes, man, the thinker, loses his greatest thought; when faith in God goes, man, the dreamer, has lost his greatest dream; when faith in God goes, man, the sinner, loses his greatest source of redemption. When faith in God goes, man, the mortal, loses his hope of immortality.
We need to cling to our faith and allow it to reveal God's mighty power. We need to allow faith to solve the existing problems and create a climate of confidence for the future. The Shunamite woman never gave up in her venture for answers to her nagging questions. She stayed with it until heaven gave the answer. Your faith can be as valid and victorious as hers. You can believe God, and you can witness His mighty power in your own heart and life.
Most of us have been in a situation where we are instructed to do a task in a certain way that made no sense to us. The reason it made no sense is we failed to see the greater picture. The master plan was not revealed to us but required our cooperation for the plan to be successful.
The events that occur in our life may not make sense because we do not see the greater picture from the LORD’s perspective. The LORD is not out of touch with our situation and the tasks, feelings, and desires that we face. Our life on this earth regardless if it is the longest, the shortest, the richest, the poorest, the happiest or the saddest life you can image, does not even compare to eternity. What really matters is where we will spend eternity and how many other people you can bring with you by following the LORD.
There is another story in the Bible about a man named Job. Job was a follower of God and put his faith to practice by helping others. Yet, despite all the good Job did the LORD allowed one crisis after another to reduce the life of Job to misery and pain.
By the end of the trials of Job, he had reached the depths of human suffering. He had been robbed of his material possessions, death took all his children, his health was gone, and his wife wanted him to curse God and die. Yet, Job’s faith remained intact.
The great loss you can suffer in this world is the loss of your faith. When faith is gone, everything else is gone as well. We need to cling to our faith and allow it to reveal the mighty power of God. The Shunamite woman never gave up in seeking the answers to her nagging questions. She stayed with it until heaven gave her the answer. Your faith can be as victorious as hers. You can believe God, and you can witness his mighty power in your own life. You must learn to accept the will of the LORD and trust in Him.
In the third verse of the song, We Will Understand it Better By, and By sums, up the feeling, most of us have in this life.
Trials dark on every hand,
and we cannot understand
all the ways of God would lead us
to that blessed promised land;
but he guides us with his eye,
and we'll follow till we die,
for we'll understand it better by and by.
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