By Pastor Funsho Fabiyi
Crisis in life can be likened to the experience of mariners in the stormy sea. Just as sailors are susceptible to dangerous and dreadful tempest at sea, humans sometimes face strong wind in the ocean of life. The trials of Job in the Bible prove to us that troubles and tribulations are not always caused by sin. Saints do occasionally confront angry waves of trials and temptations.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end (Psalm 107:23-27).
In man’s dire straits, the sudden storm coalesces with the soaring waves and toss our life like a ping pong up into the sky and then down into the abyss of the sea. Our hearts are overwhelmed with terror and tremor; our souls sink into desperation, despair, despondency, and doldrums.
It is at such critical time that man’s tongue kicks in to either save or slay the sufferer. The agony and anger in the heart may make him to blame and blaspheme God in bitter complaints. In confusion, he becomes critical of authority figures, decries friends and family members. He withdraws into his shell, bemoans his despicable condition and grumbles at nearly everything.
In the Bible, Rachael, in frustration, wagged her tongue at Jacob, her husband, for her delay in childbearing: “Give me children, or else I die.” (Genesis 30:1). King David compared his inferior state with his prosperous contemporaries and vented his complaints to God. In Psalm 73, he “was envious at the foolish, when … (he) saw the prosperity of the wicked.” He moaned that God had “plagued, and chastened (him) every morning.” In his grievance, he declared “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me.” In another depressing moment he protested “How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?” (Psalm 13:1). Unfortunately, such a mean use of our tongues during trials will only damage and destroy its victim rather than deliver and save the sufferer. Rachael lost her life in the labour room according to her confession; however, King David quickly renounced his foolish utterances and was saved.
See your time of crisis as a spiritually critical moment – time of opportunity. It should give you the opportunity to be acquainted with God better. Face pressurised time with courage and fortitude; meet trials and tribulation chest-forward and overcome them.
When Beethoven was threatened with deafness, that most terrible of troubles for a musician, he said: “I will take life by the throat.”…
When Henley was lying in Edinburgh Infirmary with one leg amputated, and the prospect that the other must follow, he wrote Invictus:
William Barclay – The Daily Study Bible 8.74
Out of the night that covers me
Black as the Pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul
Open your mouth with discretion and set a watch over your tongue like Job who during his own storm “sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” (Job 1:22). Have plentiful moments of silence to reflect on all His past and present blessings – the good days when the Lord has been gracious to you. Count your blessings, not your loses and pray to the Ruler of the Ocean and the Master of the waves. He will bring you out triumphantly, but after you have been delivered from shipwreck, do not put it down to good luck or your ingenuity but return the glory to God. Publicly share your testimony with others and let it give hope to them in their distresses too. See you on the other side of triumph!