September 15, 2011 | |
Hearing
God In A Time of Crisis Defining Visions for Our Life Sometimes Come When Our Foundations Are Shaken |
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A day or
two after 9/11, a Christian publication asked me to write an article
for Christians dealing with the crisis. The following piece poured out
quickly. It seems fitting to re-issue it this week, as we’re
consumed with the memory of that horrific day on its tenth
anniversary. Its references of course are dated. But I hope its
message--that we often gain special insight into God’s will during a
personal crisis--will bring encouragement to you in light of
challenges you currently face. |
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James Michener was an astoundingly creative and productive author. The historical novels he wrote required intensive research and the most acute understanding of cultural nuances. The production of one such tome would be an outstanding accomplishment for any writer. During his lifetime Michener authored forty-three of them, completing one a year for several decades, and researching one while writing another. He continued to write prolifically until he was 92. He also moved numerous times, residing as often as possible in the region of the world he was researching for his next major work. Two stunning factors in
Michener’s transformation into one of the great writers of all time
offer encouragement to each of us in realizing our own potential. One
is that he didn’t begin writing novels until he was 40. His example
brings to mind that some of us are simply late-bloomers by nature, and
that there can be vital benefits to being so. We shouldn’t lose
heart if we have a major dream that hasn’t yet been realized even
though we’re well into our adult years. We each operate on different
clocks, and God has radically different timetables in unfolding his
plan for each of us. Equally interesting is that Michener’s decision to become a writer emerged from a severe personal crisis--a near-death experience, in fact. Michener had dreamed of becoming a novelist for years, but had dragged his feet--not fully confident of his potential nor wanting to take the risks involved. Then a plane he was on crashed, after making three attempts to land on the South Pacific Island of New Caledonia. Michener, a military correspondent with the navy at the time, went immediately to his quarters, sat down and wrote, "I’m going to live the rest of my life as if I were a great man. . . . I’m going to concentrate my life on the biggest ideals and ideas I can handle." He began work the next day on South Pacific. Michener’s
experience, which he termed a “theophany,” reminds us that God may
use a crisis--even a severe one--to help us better understand his
purpose for us and changes in direction he wants us to take. The point
is especially redemptive to consider at this time, when our nation is
reeling with grief over the events of September 11, and many of us
continue in disillusionment and shock. I’m not suggesting
that God caused the tragedies of that day in order to bring us
certain benefits or to teach us certain lessons. None of us has the
slightest idea what was in his mind in these events, and we are on
horribly inappropriate ground to speculate. All we can know for
certain is that God cares deeply for those who are suffering, is
extending his fullest mercy and support to them and expects us to do
the same. Attempting to explain the “whys” of what happened is
both irreverent and an insult to those who are suffering. Others need
our comfort and help at this time, not our explanations. It is highly
appropriate, though, to ask how God may want us to grow personally
through these calamities. It’s not only permissible to ask the
question, but critical, if we’re to fully realize our potential for
Christ. Stewardship of our life requires it. This isn’t to downplay the importance of grieving the losses we’ve experienced, nor to suggest that we should short-cut that process in any way. Yet it’s in the midst of such grieving, ironically, that sometimes the most treasured insights into God’s intentions for our life emerge. We can benefit greatly by staying alert to this happening and to how he may wish to enlighten us. In some cases, the inspiration that comes helps our healing process considerably. Brokenness Preceded
Isaiah’s Call Isaiah enjoyed such a
breakthrough insight into his personal mission after two events shook
the foundation of life. He describes his experience in Isaiah 6:1-8,
noting it took place “in the year that King Uzziah died.” Isaiah undoubtedly was
aware Uzziah was dying and upset about it. Uzziah had been one of
Israel’s rare good, productive kings, enjoying an astonishingly long
reign of 52 years, and serving the Lord faithfully for most of the
time. Yet toward the end he brazenly attempted to offer incense in the
temple, assuming a function strictly reserved for the priests (2 Chron
26:16-21). After resisting the efforts of no less than eighty priests
to restrain him, God struck him with leprosy and rendered him
incapable of governing. Uzziah’s demise was
surely disheartening to Isaiah, and probably deeply disturbing to him.
He was obviously worried about Israel’s future as well. In this
state he entered the temple, where he experienced a second traumatic
event--an unspeakable theophany: “I saw the Lord seated on a throne,
high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above
him were seraphs. . . . At the sound of their voices the doorposts and
thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.” It is hard to
exaggerate the horror Isaiah must have felt at this moment. Jews
assumed that a face-to-face encounter with God meant certain death.
Reinforcing this assumption for Isaiah was the fact that the temple
shook violently and smoke erupted--horrific phenomena reminiscent of
the Israelites’ encounter with an angry God at Mt. Sinai. In case
there is any doubt that Isaiah was terrified, he confesses, “‘Woe
to me,’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and
I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King,
the Lord Almighty.’” God responds with what
is one of Scripture’s most dramatic episodes of forgiveness and
pardon. “Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his
hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched
my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is
taken away and your sin atoned for.’” It was in that moment
of numbed, incomprehensible relief that Isaiah heard God asking,
“Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” His immediate answer:
“Here am I. Send me!” What’s most striking
about Isaiah’s response to God’s invitation to become a prophet is
that it was instant and unequivocal. Other notable individuals in the
Old Testament reacted with far less enthusiasm when God called them to
their missions. Jonah refused to take the job, Jeremiah expressed
reservations, and Moses strongly resisted when God asked him to
deliver Israel. Isaiah, on the other hand, seemed comfortable, eager,
confident that the assignment God was offering him fit him well. Why? The reason, I believe,
is that Isaiah’s call occurred under much more highly traumatic
circumstances. His near-death experience brought him face to face with
his own mortality, and that--combined with his chagrin over Uzziah’s
downfall--enabled him to grasp his life’s mission with astonishing
clarity. God, in fact, didn’t directly tell Isaiah what to do, as he
did with Moses, Jonah and Jeremiah; Isaiah simply heard God asking if
someone would be his spokesman, then had an epiphany--a moment of
strong conviction about his calling. His example, like Michener’s,
shows how a crisis may open the door to understanding what we have
been created to do. Compelling Examples
in History We find endless
examples in history of notable individuals who had a defining moment
in the midst of a major crisis. There is Victor Frankl, who in the
excruciating circumstances of a Nazi concentration camp, concluded
that while his torturers could control many areas of his life, they
absolutely, positively could not control how he felt or thought about
his experience. His insight led to an important new movement in
psychology, logotherapy, and inspired his book Search for Meaning,
which has influenced millions. Also inspiring is the
experience of Maria Montesorri. After graduating from medical school
in 1896 and becoming Italy’s first female physician, she was denied
the privilege of practicing medicine in that country due to her
gender. Instead, she was assigned the demeaning role of caring for
“idiot” children. Montesorri decided she could educate
these supposed incorrigibles, and within months had them reading and
writing at normal levels. The experience defined her life calling and
transformed her into a prophet who radically influenced the thinking
of twentieth century educators. Pioneer aviator Amelia Earhart had a near-death experience at age 5, which also changed her forever. She raced a sled down a snowy slope, defying custom and lying flat on it like a boy. At the bottom of the hill she encountered a horse and buggy straight across her path. With no time to stop or maneuver the sled around it, she skillfully glided it underneath the carriage--an impossible feat had she been sitting up, as was "proper" for a girl. In her autobiography, she reflected that the experience transformed her life and gave her the courage to take major risks. An example of a
different flavor, but no less interesting, is that of Walt Disney.
After an unscrupulous competitor stole his character Oswald the
Rabbit, Disney was devastated and contemplated suicide. But while
flying back to California he drew Mickey Mouse, conceiving the
character that would define his life’s work and success as an
animator. Electrical innovator
Nikola Tesla also discovered the secret of the induction engine in the
midst of a nervous breakdown. Sigmund Freud also
experienced emotional collapse after his two closest allies, Wilhelm
Flies and Josef Breuer, abandoned him in 1895. It was during the dark
days which followed that he arrived at his most critical insights into
the human psyche--concepts that have transformed psychological
thinking and vocabulary ever since. A more recent example
is John Walsh, who while grieving his son’s apparent kidnapping and
murder conceived America’s Most Wanted--a TV program he
continues to host, that has aided the abduction of hundreds of elusive
criminals. Of course, there is also the example that many of us as Christians find most inspiring of all--that of Saul of Tarsus, who went through a radical shift in his thinking about Jesus Christ and his life mission after he was blinded by God on Damascus Road.* How Crises Arouse
Visionary Insight There are at least six
ways a crisis can open us to understanding our life’s purpose and
mission more fully. 1. Crises
activate our right-brain thinking.
One important reason a crisis may foster critical insight into our
life’s direction is that it frees us from our bondage to the
left-brain thinking that normally dominates our outlook. Left-brain
activity is essential for most of the routines and functions of daily
life. But far-reaching visionary inspirations always evolve from our
brain’s right hemisphere. Since our left- and right-brain functions
are exclusive to an important extent, the Eurekea-I’ve-found-it
insights rarely emerge when we’re preoccupied with routine
responsibilities. This is why those
pace-setting epiphanies about our life’s mission usually occur when
we’re on vacation, on retreat, in the shower or doing something
mindless and relaxing. These are activities that free our right brain
to function more fully and creatively. A crisis, ironically, may bring
the same benefit, for it forces a break with our normal routine and
compels us to set left-brain activities aside. This isn’t to say
that we should seek a crisis or that we have to have one to
precipitate a life-changing vision for our future. There are much more
pleasant ways to encourage such epiphanies, to say the least; a
vacation at the beach or a personal retreat in the mountains may
accomplish the purpose just as effectively. But it is simply to say
that the crises we inevitably experience can be the setting for
breakthrough visions about our life as well. This is true, in part,
because of how God has fashioned our intellect and creative process. 2. Crises knock
out the props that keep us too grounded in our present security and
unwilling to risk.
Realizing our potential, and finding God’s best for our life
in any area, always requires steps that from our human standpoint seem
like risks. The willingness to risk, and to risk big, is absolutely
essential if we’re to experience life as God intends it and open
ourselves fully to his provision. This openness to risk
is often strong when we’re young and imagine that we have an endless
future to redeem any mistakes. As we grow older, we typically grow too
risk-adverse. We may still long for greater adventure, a stronger
sense of mission and work that more clearly taps our potential. Yet
we’ve hit a stride in life that’s comfortable, and we fear risking
what we’ve gained for the sake of an uncertain future. Sometimes a crisis
knocks out a prop directly that is standing in the way of God’s best
for us. A woman wants to go into business for herself and has the
talent to do so, but sticks with a job that has her working far
beneath her potential. Then the company for whom she works goes
bankrupt. Now, unemployed, she realizes she has much less to lose by
starting her own venture and takes the plunge. In other cases a crisis knocks out a prop indirectly and symbolically. During this past week, as the networks have aired the unthinkable footage of the Twin Towers collapsing repeatedly in an almost endless video loop, who among us hasn’t reflected often on how the possessions in which we personally take security are temporary and can vanish in a second? That insight in itself is redemptive, and can free us to risk losing what we have for the sake of God’s greater purpose for our life. In that spirit we may be able to recognize more clearly a new direction he wants us to take. 3. Crises deepen
our appreciation for the gift of life itself, and strengthen our sense
of urgency to seize the opportunities we have.
In the same way, a crisis reminds
us that life itself is an unspeakable gift of God; the opportunities
we have are not endless, and choices do not present themselves
forever. We’re awe-struck that God has given us the privilege of
life, and more determined now to make something of it. It was this
realization, springing from his close brush with death in the plane
crash, that convinced Michener to begin writing, a decision that
changed the course of his life--and literary history--forever. 4. Crises draw us
closer to God and open us more genuinely to his direction.
The greatest potential benefit of a crisis, far and away, is that it
can strengthen our relationship with Christ. We’re driven in our
brokenness to seek his comfort, and in our helplessness to seek his
help and direction. Of course, a crisis may do just the opposite: it may ignite our anger at God for tearing from our life something we treasured. This reaction is normal and human, and can be a necessary part of the grieving process through which we recover and heal. When David and a team of helpers were returning the ark to Israel from Philistine, God slew two of David’s assistants who touched the ark inappropriately. David’s immediate response was anger at God and fear (1 Chron 13:9-11). Yet in time the
experience humbled David and deepened his relationship with God. That
outcome is the ideal for each of us--and the sooner we can reach that
point the better. In many cases a crisis thrusts us there immediately.
This clearly has been the case for many of us who’ve been stunned by
the tragedies of September 11. We’ve felt compelled to pray for
those who are suffering and to seek God’s encouragement for
ourselves. And we’ve recognized more fully than ever how desperately
we need God’s help in a life that now seems far less stable than we
imagined. It’s in this state of
mind and heart that God is best able to communicate with us,
and in which important insight into our life’s direction is most
likely to come. 5. Crises
stimulate our desire to help others, and help us better recognize how
our life can benefit others. The events of September 11 demonstrated the worst possible side of human
nature. Yet they quickly brought out the very best in people as well,
as millions throughout the world were deeply moved to look for some
way to extend their help. Some--a relative
few--have been in a position to help with emergency relief. Many
others have felt frustrated by the overwhelming level of need and the
lack of any obvious way they can make a meaningful contribution. A
friend writes me, “I find myself unable to even know how to pray
properly about it as there are so many people affected . . . killed,
injured, grieving, agonizing over just not knowing what happened to
their loved one. . . . I can't even imagine the pain being experienced
by so many thousands.” She adds that she would like to donate blood
but doubts hers would be acceptable, since she is a cancer survivor. Whether or not we are
able to assist with this or any crisis directly, the fact that it
arouses our desire to help is itself a positive factor. We can be
startled to discover just how deeply we’re capable of caring for
others and hurting over their misfortune, and how greatly we yearn to
do something significant to make a difference. Even a crisis that
slams us and disables us personally can bolster our compassion for
others, for it deepens our empathy for those who are suffering the
same hardship. It’s at this point
when our compassion is ignited that we’re most inclined to ask the
right questions about our life’s purpose and mission. We’re also
best positioned to understand the answers God may give us, and to
recognize steps of faith he wants us to take. 6. Crises help us
appreciate the resilience God has put within us, and strengthen our
courage to take challenging steps essential to realizing our
potential. One reason we
hesitate to take vital steps of faith is that we fear failure too
greatly. We imagine we won’t be able to handle an experience of loss
that might occur, and will never recover. Yet, in fact, God has
made us each far more resilient than we normally realize. A crisis can
bring us face to face with this extraordinary fact of human nature. We
discover that we are capable of picking up the pieces of our life and
moving on. Over time we find that God works many miracles, healing our
devastation and bringing fresh life out of the ashes. This discovery
can revolutionize the way we think about risk, and enable us to
entertain possibilities for our life we’d never have considered. Greg Lukens, a friend
of mine who was blinded at 13 in a tragic dirt bike accident,
expressed it to me this way: “I stared adversity in the face, and
asked what would be the worst that could happen if I lived a normal
life. I realized I might trip over a rock from time to time, or fall
in an occasional ditch, but that would be it. I decided I could handle
these setbacks and wouldn’t let the threat of them hold me back
living fully.” He went on to live a highly active life and to found
a major audio supply company, which he continues to manage. He has
kept his life moving at full throttle toward dreams that are important
to him, in spite of what most would term a serious handicap. Greg’s secret is a
profound recognition of his own resilience--one that goes much deeper
than most of us experience. Here lies an important secret for each of
us in unlocking our own potential. The appreciation of our resilience
that grows out of a personal crisis can make an enormous difference,
in finding the courage to take risks and in our ability to think big
about our future. Looking Forward It seems almost trivial
to say that the events of September 11, 2001 will change our lives
forever. Since early on that day news commentators, political and
religious leaders, and friends with whom we’ve spoken have reminded
us of this continuously. None of us disputes their assessment. The
question of how these calamities will change us is the critical
one. Our immediate need is
to look as carefully as we can at how we can assist with emergencies
around us and can extend our help to those with urgent needs. Our longer-term need is to come to grips with our own life’s direction from this point forward. God will call some of us to make important changes in light of these events and others to stay the course. Nothing will benefit us more in weighing the options than to devote some generous time to prayer and quiet reflection about our future. It helps greatly to realize that we are in a better position at a time such as this to understand Christ’s leading than we normally are. We should listen carefully to the stirrings of heart we experience at this time, for in them we may be hearing the whispers of God. |
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Back to top of this article. *For further elaboration on how crisis affected most of the historical figures mentioned here, see Gene N. Landrum, The Eight Keys to Greatness: How To Unlock Your Hidden Potential (New York: Pometheus Books, 1999). Back. **Op. Cit. p. 227. I strongly recommend Landrum's book, which has excellent discussion of right-brain vs. left-brain thinking and of how crises can generate creative and visionary insight. Back.
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