We may be faced with crisis or situations that threaten us at one time or another. We may be unable to avoid such an event or even do something about it.

How should we respond in such a time?

For even though we may not be able to do something, responding is a natural human instinct. We just feel we must do something even when we don’t know what.

The world faces a situation that threatens all of us right now. Virtually every country is prepared for the possibility of a conventional war with some other country. Many countries spend a disproportionately higher proportion of their wealth on preparing for such wars. Some even foment troubles in other countries so as to be able to sell and test their weapons to both sides in such conflicts.

Oftentimes, our responseto the problem or difficulty is the problem and not the crisis confronting us. This is because of the attendant anxiety and fear which make us prone to inappropriate response. We become so strung up with fear that we may not even realise that our response to the problem is inappropriate or outrightly wrong and counterproductive.

Hence, our response to the problem may become a major complication of the already bad situation. And so our response to the problem is the problem and not the crisis confronting us. Our attitude is crucial in any situation, more so, in crisis situations.

Our attitude in time of Crisis

Generally, believers in Christ respond to crisis in one of several ways:

• Some cover up the problem hoping that it will just go away.
• Some give up. Claiming that it is God’s will, or the enemies are this time just too powerful and God will not do anything either.
• Some deny they have a problem. They believe or have been taught that admitting to having a problem is confessing negatively or a sign of lack of faith. They have not learnt that Christianity is not positive confession but relationship with the creator of the universe.
• Some panic and want to end it all by doing some terrible things. and in the process act out of impulse. Such acts often lead to unpleasant consequences.
• Few pray.

Effect of the attitude

Very often it is not the crisis that destroys the person, but what the person does: Whether he acts or Does not act. And whatever he acts are all responses.

For those who belong to the LORD, our attitude is a measure of the health of our relationship with God. The closer you have walked with the LORD, the closer your attitude will reflect the rectitude of those who are abiding under the shadow of the Almighty.

The attitude of the believer in Christ is a reflection of his level of spiritual growth.

It is common for many people to claim to have little faith and then be asking God for more faith during a crisis. But oftentimes the person claiming to have a little faith has yet to know the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour and Lord. He is still outside the circle of the people of God. Rather than asking for more faith in the person he does not know, the right thing for such a person to do is to come to the place of repentance and then be saved by the Lord before he can begin to think of faith whether great or little.

But for those who are already believers in Christ, it is the exercising in the spiritual disciplines and being regularly in the word and the ministration of the Holy Spirit that help us to grow in faith as we advance in spiritual growth. This presupposes having a habit of putting God first in all that we do. Then at the time of crisis we know where to turn. King Jehoshaphat of Judah can be cited as a case in point (2Chr 20:1-13). 

In time of crisis check and ensure you have an attitude of prayer

Our status in time of crisis

This then brings us to the issue of our status before God.

Who are you before God, His child or His enemy?

We must have a God, not just believe there is a God. We must have been reconciled to Him [born-again] and in right relationship with Him through the Lord Jesus Christ.

The demons believe there is God and tremble (Jam 2:19), a belief that has not led them to repentance and willing obedience to God. It is also not about moralising, claiming that you do good to others and are harming no one. Any moralist not reconciled to God is heading towards hell unless he repents and is reconciled to God soonest (Isa 64:6).

So, you should not flippantly claim a relationship with Christ. It will not only be a worthless exercise but can be dangerous as you are only luring yourself into false security. Rather, examine yourself not by your feelings but by the word of God to see if you are genuinely in faith with Christ as your Saviour and Lord.

If any of us believers in Christ having God as our Father is out of fellowship because of sin, we should repent of such and be reconciled to Him immediately. It is through confessing and repenting as we forsake the sin that we then receive pardon and are reconciled to and are back in fellowship with the Lord (1John 1:8-9).

Believers in Christ are not insulated from challenges of life. Indeed the word of God tells us that challenges are part of being a follower of Christ.

As believers in Christ in this time of global crisis of corona virus pandemic with individual and personal ramifications,or indeed during any crisis, we should not give room to fear. Notice that I did not say do not be afraid. This is because we have not to pretend, we all fear sometimes, especially in times of crisis. And right now there is an atmosphere of fear prevailing over the whole world, so thick, it can be cut with a knife!

The children of God are commanded,

“Neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid” (Isa 8:12).

This is especially important as if as a follow-up to this we are further told,

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2Tim 1:7).

What is important is what we do for that is what shows whether we are beginning to give room to fear or not. We must focus our attention and not allow ourselves to be distracted. Particularly at this time our focus should be on God, especially on three of the traits of God as they concern our relationship with our God: His power, His character, and His promise.

Yes, come to God having faith in the power of God, Faith in God’s character, and Faith in God’s promise.

Believe that you are still a child of God in spite of the problem. The crisis is not a sign that God has left you.

Three traits of God

According to the word of God, there is no situation that we may face that God does not already know about. Why we may be surprised or even shocked to numbness because of the suddenness and seriousness of a situation, our God is never caught unawares or unprepared. We have an all-knowing and all-able God who is our loving Father.

We are to therefore approach Him on the basis of relationship. He is our Father and we are members of His earthly household. Our God is infinitely better in every aspect than even the best of earthly fathers at his best.

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:16).

We come to our Father in humility and deep reference having:

• Faith in the power of our God (past, present and future) 
• Faith in the character of our God
• Faith in the promise of God

Faith in the power of God (v.7)

We must have faith in the power of our God (past, present and future). Our God is the God in heaven and on earth. For the avoidance of any doubt as to who our God is:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ² And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Gen 1:1-2).

And

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² The same was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1:1-5).

“²¹ …..and there is no God else beside me; A just God and a saviour; there is none beside me. ²² Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: For I am God, and there is none else.” (Isa 45:21-22).

We see the demonstration of the faith of Jehoshaphat and the people as he addressed a question to God,

“Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?” (2Chr 20:7).

Of course, the answer is yes, god was the one. In other words, Jehoshaphat was telling God that God defended His people in the past and he believed God was going to deliver them from their current predicament too.

Our God is the Triune God: One God in three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Our God rules over all the kingdoms of the earth. In His hand are power and might so that none is able to withstand Him (2Chr 20:6). He will execute judgement upon our enemies. Let it be said that though we may not have power over the horde that come against us (any and all adversaries), we may not know what to do, but our eyes are on our God (2Chr 20:12).

Psalm 91 speaks much about our God and our security in and from Him. We only need to believe and act on that belief: That is faith.

Our God is:

• A shelter of Strength
• A refuge of Rest
• A fortress of Peace where we can rest, be in peace and have living hope from the fears of life.

Look at verses 1 & 2 again.

What do you notice?

That there is something required of us believers. We are to abide.

How do we abide?

The Lord asked a question then which still applies today,

“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).

And went on to clarify what it means to abide in Him,

“²⁴ Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Mat 7:24-27).

We abide by doing the will of God. We must constantly affirm our trust in our God. We cannot love one we do not know. We cannot do God’s will if we do not know and love Him.  

Faith in God’s character (vv.6, 12)

We must have faith in the character of our God (vv.6, 12). The LORD is God in heaven and on earth. He is a covenant keeping God (Deut. 4:39; 1Kgs 8:23; 2Chr 20:6). He has demonstrated in His dealings with His creation that He is consistent and completely trustworthy. And we have the sure testimony of Holy Scripture,

“⁶ And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

⁷ keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” (Ex 34:6-7).

Jehoshaphat approached God on the grounds of God’s previous record. God has been consistent. He has been and continued to be the God in heaven who has all the power and might. He rules over all the kingdoms and he judges the ungodly. It is God’s character to be consistent and trustworthy.

“and said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?” (2Chr 20:6).

And

“O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.” (2Chr 20:12).

Our God will judge the ungodly and reward the godly ultimately at the end of the age at the second coming of Christ. Meanwhile He continues to deal with all His creation according to His own counsel. In the final analysis, we do not know the details as to how God makes His decisions about us on day to day basis. He knows how powerful and hateful the wicked are and will not leave us at their mercy (2Chr 20:12).

Our God is all powerful and is never weary. We cannot search out His understanding. He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might He increases strength of those who do not have.

“²⁸  Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, That the everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth,            Fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. ²⁹ He giveth power to the faint; And to them that have no might he increaseth strength. ³⁰ Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall:       ³¹ But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isa 40:28-31).

Our God will supply us with whatever we need to pass through any situation threatening to overwhelm us. Whatever such challenges are they have an expiry sate well known to our God. He will ensure we outlive whatever the scourge may be in the Name of Jesu, Amen.

Faith in God’s promise

We must have faith in God’s promise. God promises to keep us safe (Ps 91:7, 11-12). Everything God says concerning you will come true for He stands by His word to perform what He has spoken. God always stands by His word and hastens to perform it (Jer. 1:12).

And

“¹⁰  For as the rain cometh down, And the snow from heaven, And returneth not thither, But watereth the earth, And maketh it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: ¹¹     So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: It shall not return unto me void, But it shall accomplish that which I please, And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isa 55:10-11).

“⁷ A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; But it shall not come nigh thee.

¹¹For he shall give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways. ¹² They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” (Ps 91:7, 11-12).

All of us believers in Christ should have every confidence in God and trust Him to be true to all His promises to all He has given to His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, our Saviour and our Lord.

Approach God as your Father having faith in His power, character and promise.

We now come to the content of our prayer and this brings us to the actions of king Jehoshaphat

The contents of our prayer (cf. 2Chr 20:1-13)

“¹It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. ² Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi. ³ And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.” (2Chr 20:1-3).

Jehoshaphat was a God-fearing king, doing things that pleased God according to the testimony of Holy Scripture (2Chronicle 17:3-6):

“³ And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim; ⁴ but sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel. ⁵ Therefore the Lord stablished the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance. ⁶ And his heart was lift up in the ways of the Lord: moreover he took away the high places and groves out of Judah.” (2Chr 17:3-6).

Yet he was confronted by a crisis situation as the people of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir united and came against Judah with a great multitude (2Chr 20:1-2). Being a believer in Christ does not always mean we would not have to face crisis situation. As Jehoshaphat faced the great multitude of the enemies, he was afraid but did not give room to fear as he went to God (2Chr 20:3-5).

At the time of a crisis more than any other we need to appraise our prayer life, especially the contents of what we offer to God.

• Brother, sister, how do you pray?
• What do you pray?

Please, check again!

To assist us, let us take a closer look at the prayer of king Jehoshaphat as to what we may learn from there.

We observe some basic facts:

Relationship with God

“God of our father” (2Chr 20:6). This speaks of relationship. Christ taught His disciples to start with relationship, “Our Father which art in heaven” (Mat 6:9). Jehoshaphat acknowledged that they belonged to God. The land that their enemies were threatening was a gift of God (v.7). Our relationship with God is paramount. It is the foundation for all else. God is our Father who has adopted us through His Son Jesus Christ. He knows and loves us and will do us good.

“⁵ And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, ⁶ and said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?” (2Chr 20:5-6).

Ownership.

Many live with the mind set of “it is my life and I can live anyhow I want. I am the captain of my ship, paddle your own canoe!” And if it so happens that they have a “measure of success”, they say, “I worked hard for my success, I am responsible for my success.” As the word of God makes us to understand, there are those who say in their heart that there is no God and they act accordingly.

But genuine believers would not fall for that fallacy as they know that is far from the truth for there is the God who created all things. Believers in Christ know this God has made them new creatures in Christ (2Cor 5:17). We must acknowledge God’s ownership of us. Our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased us (His church) with His blood. We no longer belong to ourselves but to Him (1Pet 1:18-19; Rev 5:9). As our God, He rules our lives and will not brood any interference from anyone who may want to take over His place in our lives.

The enemies wanted to determine how Jehoshaphat and Judah should live, something that is totally the prerogative of God. Naturally, God would not allow such. Similarly, when problems and situations threaten to overwhelm us, we should recognise God’s ownership of us and plead with Him not to allow such to usurp His place in our lives.

God is our help.

Jehoshaphat asserted that he was turning to God in time of need (vv.8-9).

“⁸ And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, ⁹ If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.” (2Chr 20:8-9).

As the people of God, we should let God know we are turning to Him in our time of need. We are to draw near to God, “unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

Indictment of the enemy.

Jehoshaphat indicted their enemy for their show of ingratitude. Israel had restrained from attacking these countries (Ammon, Edom and Moab) at the time of the exodus as they encountered them in their wandering in the wilderness (vv.10-11; cf. Num. 20:17-21; Deut. 2:4-5).

“¹⁰ And now behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; ¹¹ behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.” (2Chr 20:10-11).

At the commandment of God (Mat 5:44-48), (I do hope we are obeying this difficult command to the best of our ability), believers in Christ have continued to do good to the ungodly and their enemies. It is therefore in order to indict the enemy before God for their ingratitude. Remember that God knows them more than we do, and He is the one to judge them too.

Confession of total dependence upon God.

They admitted and confessed their complete dependence upon God (v.12). We ought to never be too full of ourselves when we come to God. Rather we should be down-to-earth humbling ourselves before His Majesty as we confess our utter dependence upon God to Him.

“O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.” (2Chr 20:12).

Simple, sincere prayer from the heart

King Jehoshaphat’s prayer had one request: judge them (v.12), one complaint: how they repaid us (v.11), and one confession: we don’t know what to do (v.12). Our prayer should be simple for God looks at the heart not how big are the words we say nor the fluency of our speech. We do not need a speech writer before approaching our God in prayer. We should not only marvel at the simplicity of this prayer but should also try to emulate it.

We are to apply the truth of Holy Scripture to our lives:

We have no power, but our God has unlimited and unlimitable power

When we realise our powerlessness and dependence on God great things will happen. Rather than becoming afraid we should let our powerlessness drive us to God who has all the power and is ever willing to enable us.

Oftentimes God takes away the things we use as crutches, all those things we tend to depend on in place of God. Yes, God will take away all our potential God-replacers, all our false security. Even the best of Christians still has much of the undesirable baggage. And such baggage must be done away with.

Christian growth towards spiritual maturity is the process by which God does away with the excess and undesirable baggage thus breaking down our false security that we have surreptitiously used to replace Him in our lives.

Yes, if need be, God will take away everything else so that we have nowhere to go but to Him. God wants to be the “All-in all” in our lives. It to our advantage and good if we cooperate with His Holy Spirit in His work of consistent continuing sanctification in us. Hear, again what Jehoshaphat said to God, “neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee” (2Chr 20:12). That is where God wants us to be!

At the risk of sounding like a broken gramophone record, please bear with my repetition. I just think this bears repeating:

Our God is all powerful and is never weary. We cannot search out His understanding. He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might He increases strength of those who do not have.

“²⁸  Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, That the everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth,            Fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. ²⁹ He giveth power to the faint; And to them that have no might he increaseth strength. ³⁰ Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall:       ³¹ But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isa 40:28-31).

Our God will supply us with whatever we need to pass through the pestilence and emerge victorious at the end of it all. Yes, even this Corona virus (Covid-19) that is currently rampaging the world has expiry date known to our God. All of us will outlive the scourge in the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Cultivate the worshipful heart

Having a worshipful heart is important especially in the midst of problems. For this to be so, we ought to have been cultivating worshipful heart as part of our daily Christian exercise. It should not be when we face a problem that we are then searching for how to worship.

Worship should be our response from a heart that is grateful to God. If we truly are grateful, then genuine worship will be our response to the mercy He has shown us as we go into the presence of God. And worship will thus be our response as we turn to God in our helplessness in time of trouble.

They worshipped before the battle, during the battle, and after the battle.

That did not happen as a spur-of-the-moment-decision. Rather, it was the result of a cultivated lifestyle of worship!

Such is the state we ought to be too: always in the habit of worship from a heart filled with gratitude to God.

Start now. Do away with the fear in and around you. Enter into the presence of our all-powerful, all-loving and ever willing God. Worship Him with a heart filled with gratitude and not fear. He is merciful and will add His surpassing sufficiency to our insufficiency and see us all through this dangerous and uncertain period.

We shall all be here again to thankfully praise and worship Him after the expiry of whatever crisis you and any of us may be going through right now. 

Again remember,

In time of crisis check and ensure you have an attitude of prayer all through.

Believe that you are still a child of God in spite of the problem. The crisis is not a sign that God has left you.

Approach God as your Father having faith in His power, character and promise.

Let the content of your prayer reflect the situation but focus on God and not on the devil or anyone else you may be blaming.

For the unbeliever

However, if you are not yet a disciple of Christ, if you are not yet born-again, that is what you have to resolved face. Pray to God to save you by confessing the Lord Jesus Christ.

“⁹ that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Rom 10:9-10).

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Rom 10:13).

May the LORD accept and grant you salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ in Jesus’ Name, Amen.