Crisis Preparedness?

When a serious issue or a crisis comes into your life, how will you deal with it? For most of us it is a question that can only be truly answered when that something happens. Oh, we can guess and speculate how we’ll handle it…we may even talk as if we know exactly how we’ll handle the worst of situations. But, truth be known, none of us really knows how we’ll deal with that crisis until we are in the midst of it. 

By our own personal experience, we can probably testify that we handled a past crisis much different than we would have ever guessed. The more serious the crisis in our life, the less we will know how we might handle it. Those who imagine themselves so very strong may be the ones who totally fall apart. Likewise, those who seem weak may be the ones who summon up unknown faith and strength to see them through the crisis.

Even though we may not really know how will actually handle a serious crisis in our lives, there are some things we can do ahead of time to enable us have some resources to help when something does happen in our lives. For instance, if you haven’t prayed for the past 10 years it might be doubtful that prayer will be a part of your bag of useful tools when you are in the midst of that crisis. Likewise, if you haven’t been to Church since your wedding day, finding solace in the Church may not be the first place you look for help.

The same could be said for the reading of Holy Scriptures; for having a confidant…a close friend that you can trust and confide in; for having a relationship with a spiritual leader…one that will be there for you when your world is turned upside down; for having a good exercise program that helps you clear your mind; for having a way to deal with everyday stress (besides downing a six-pack every night after work).  There are many more things we can do in this regard, but keep in mind, we don’t do them simply to get ready for a crisis. We develop these areas because they are a great help to us now… we will be better people by doing the right things now. 

It is somewhat like Pavlov’s experiment with dogs (a bit of a stretch I suppose).  By us doing the right things daily we can “imprint” on ourselves what kind of things we should do when the unexpected happens. When a serious crisis hits our life, we may go into an “autopilot” mode…doing the things that we are used to doing. Hopefully those things will be the very stuff we need to get back on our feet again…to overcome the sorrow or pain in our hearts.

There are no guarantees in this matter of handling a crisis…our reaction may totally surprise us anyway. But since these are good things for us to be doing for our lives anyway, it only makes sense to begin doing them now!! 

 May the Lord bless you each day…and may He especially be there for you when some unexpected crisis blindsides your life. 

“I sought the Lord and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears….this poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.  The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and He delivers them…The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles…Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all…”  (Verses from Psalm 34…well worth reading the whole Psalm!!)