What is a crisis of faith and what do you do when you have one?
Losing Faith
What happens when you’ve lost your faith? What do you do when you feel your spirit’s broken and now you’ve entered a crisis of faith? Maybe we can look to Scripture and see what the other saints did during their crisis of faith, or their losing faith in God’s will for their life. When faced with the bitterest of disappointments, sometimes we can even reach a point we ask God to take our life. Things can become so bleak due, or something so terrible has happened, that we just give up on life. Take the proverbial fork and stick it in us because, “We’re done.” Such was the case with Elijah who finally gave up and asked God “that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers” (1 Kings 19:4b). His self-worth, like ours, can be shattered. When Moses reached a crisis of faith due to the continually stiff-necked people of Israel and their burden of needs, that he asked God to take his life (Num. 11:11-15). What do you do when that happens to you, or you see it happening to someone else?
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Death Wish
The prophet Jonah would have rather died than to see Nineveh repent (Jonah 4:3), and Jeremiah the Prophet cursed the day of his birth (Jer 20:14-18), so as you can see, everyone may have a crisis to one extent or the other, and even the great saints of the Old Testament wanted God to take their lives. They were done. But God wasn’t done with them. Neither is He finished with you if you’re having a crisis of faith or have had your spirit broken. Even Israel’s greatest king, King David, experienced a time when He cried out and asked God, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me” (Psalm 13:1), “for I have “sorrow in my heart all the day” (Psalm 13:2b). Is that you right now? Or do you know someone who is going through such a crisis? If so, stay close to them. Observe their cries for help. Maybe they’ve lost their purpose in life and now want to end it all. You may have to strongly suggest that they need to seek medical attention or call the Suicide Prevention Hotline (1-800-273-8255). Do not ignore your friend at this time…or maybe that’s you. If it is, call someone and talk to them, preferably an older, trusted Christian or counselor. Maybe they’ve been through the same thing. You’d be surprised at how often others have had the same crisis and over the same thing. By all means, don’t isolate yourself. That can only make matters worse. Stay in contact with others and remain in the fellowship of the saints.
Finding God’s Will
I know enough about having a crisis of faith that I can tell you from experience that God sometimes uses these to wean us from worldly things and make us focus more on God. Desperate people pray more desperately, and more often. Scripture tells us that God wants us to pray to Him more often. Maybe we’ve never really surrendered to the sovereignty of God or to God’s will for our lives. Our will may be radically different than God’s will. This crisis may move us toward the will of God, even if we don’t know where that is today. God’s not going to usually give us something worse, and even though it may not be better, it is better in the sense that this is God’s will. We know that because whatever comes to pass is God’s will. We can’t let ourselves think that this crisis is a period in our life. It is more likely a comma…preparing us for the next sentence in our life story.
Afflictions Birth Ministries
[2]One of the main lessons of being crushed by circumstances or people is what A.W. Tozer wrote, “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.” The deepest of hurts can prepare us for the greatest ministries. What has hurt us deeply can become a passion for a ministry. We can use our past crisis as a mechanism to help others in their crisis. God is the One “who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor 1:4). Our afflictions can help us understand what others are going through, and they respect the fact that we’ve been there too. God comforts His people by means of others who have had the same afflictions. Who better to understand than someone who’s been through it? In turn, others are to comfort us in our afflictions. God uses others as a means to comfort us, and God uses us as a means to comfort others.
Conclusion
Always remember, you’re not alone in this crisis, and that “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 43:18). We must pray to the Lord and seek His strength. Don’t ask “Why” but ask, “What.” What are you trying to show me or teach me Lord? The best thing we can do is to “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you” (Deut 31:6). God did not bring you to this to leave you in this. He will make a way. You will pass through this but you won’t pass through it alone. He is with you…He is for you…and He has a plan for you.
Here is some related reading for you: Hope in God in Hopeless Times [3]
Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.