Crisis Intervention
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.
-- Psalm 66:18-19
I travel often and so I see lots of families with small kids in airport waiting areas. Such places, it seems, are most convenient for kids to throw a tantrum or two. Tired from their trip, the child soon finds an excuse for a crisis. The crowd rolls its eyes as the parents hasten to control the child. The effort seems futile, however. It's as if the child is trapped in a frenzied orbit of self-pity and can't come down.
I've thrown a few tantrums in my life -- tantrums where I've become self-absorbed and ignorant of God's presence in the midst of a crisis. I'm able to muster up my stubborn German-Swede pride with a dose of fleshly Joni and lock on to an emotional and spiritual frenzy equal to that of a two year-old. I hear or feel little of God at such times. But it is precisely at those times that I need to remember two principles: stop whining and dining.
Stop whining. God's voice can't be heard above my complaints. No matter that his voice shook the mountains. It's no match for a whining, negative spirit. I won't hear his comfort or his solution to my problem above the din of my self-pity.
Stop dining. Our solutions to crises sometimes come in the form of indulgences. I might indulge in food or fantasy. I'll work feverishly or play dangerously -- anything to stop the pain. But the pain will not stop and the crisis will not pass until I stop trying to consume everything I desire. God's hand will not be felt while I grasp at pleasure.
What are you whining and dining on? When you end it, that's when God intervenes in quietness and strength. The crisis will pass. All things will work together for good. He will have his way. See it for yourself today.
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Still my voice, Lord, quench my hungers. I'm listening.
Blessings,
Joni and Friends
www.joniandfriends.org Taken from More Precious Than Silver. Copyright © 1998 by Joni Eareckson Tada. Used by permission. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530