How to Deal With a Crisis

Leaders face crisis.  Parents face crisis.  Nations face crisis.  Dealing with crisis correctly can mean the difference in a marriage divorcing or a war starting. 

Here are four things I have learned to always do when a crisis, a trauma, or a shocking development occurs:

1.    I learned to pray and fast.

Crisis causes your brain to spin out of control.  Your emotions become hyper active.  You cannot hear the voice of God or hear the voice of your inner man.

Prayer and fasting changes that.  Your mind and outer man quieten down and your spirit man takes over.  David was in crisis at Ziklag when his wife and children were abducted and he said, “Bring me the ephod” (the priestly garment used to hear the voice of God).

Miss a meal…or two…or three.  You won’t die.  The “rat maze” of your mind will calm down and your spirit will start to give you clarity of your priorities and a plan of action.

2.  I learned to follow the Scripture.

In a crisis, I ask for two things:  “wisdom” and “counsel.”  I pray James 3:17, asking the Lord to fill me with the eight aspects of wisdom.  Amazingly enough, I settle down and receive a solution, an answer, a direction I could have never come up with myself!

Someone said, “Wisdom is knowing WHAT to do; knowledge is knowing HOW to do it; courage is the boldness to do it.”

“Wisdom is knowing WHAT to do; knowledge is knowing HOW to do it; courage is the boldness to do it.”

3.  I learned to settle myself down.

Satan pushes you to make more of a situation than it really is.  Think about your initial reaction overnight in order to get perspective.  See in the morning if the problem was big enough to warrant doing your first reaction.

As a leader, I learned that people will react based upon your FACE. When people see your calm, focused, assured, and confident face they also tend to settle down and work toward a solution.

4.  I have learned to move toward the need.

The moment you hear of a crisis, start to move toward it.  If it is a sickness, a death, or a hundred different scenarios, move toward the need.

People really need you when they need you.  Talking myself out of responding has never produced good fruit for me.  Jesus responded to Lazarus’ sickness. 

Moving toward the need can make the difference in either a person never understanding your absence or their remembering your sacrifice for the rest of their life.  You never get a second chance to minister in some crisis situations.

GO to the hospital, the funeral home, the home of a bereaved person.  People draw strength from your presence, not your text.

Crises will happen.  The question is “How will you deal with that crisis?”