Faithful on Fridays Blog

Family in Crisis

Many years ago I read a book entitled Where is God When It Hurts? and then I experienced that aspect of God several years ago when our family was in crisis. It was an emotional roller coaster ride often filled with confusion but let me assure you; God was there. Every up and every down; He was there.

As a parent, when our kids hurt, we hurt. We’re filled with so many questions: What should we do? Where should we go? How do we handle this? What should we say or not say? The great thing in the midst of our crisis was that the Lord God answered every question, spoken and unspoken. God guided us each moment as to what to do and when to do it. We knew where to go and He gave us the words to say or the wisdom to be silent. Our family walked through that time with greater faith than we’ve ever had and confidence that His plan was working itself out.

God is always about the heart. He doesn’t just look at our outward circumstances and make them easier; He is working on our heart. The apostle Paul knew that, read what he wrote after enduring a dark jail cell:

For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18 NLT

When you go through God’s ‘cardiac rehab’ it’s crucial to realize that this is a crossroad or turning point in your life. This traumatic and unstable time is God’s step-by-step process to spiritual development. During this time He’s not mad at you, He wants to change you, and that can be painful. The good thing is … it’s temporary. A metamorphosis is a slow change from the inside out but eventually a butterfly does emerge.

And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 2 Corinthians 3:18b 

Another thing I’ve learned about family crisis is that you are utterly dependent on God. Whether it’s you personally or someone in your family, you can depend on God to extend His mercy and grace when you need it. His plan is always higher and greater than any trauma we have to endure. God allows crisis to occur; nothing happens to us unless it first has passed through His hand. We may not understand or agree but it’s true. That time was, in many ways, good for our family because God showed Himself to be all-sufficient: all we need. He isn’t finished refining us but we are on the right path and experiencing transformed lives.