Recovering from a Crisis

Life is full of highs and lows.  Sometimes a low can be a full-blow crisis!  How do know when something is crisis-level?  Well, it is different for everyone.  If you are young, and have had a relatively smooth life, a car accident might be a huge crisis.  But, if you have lived a long life, and faced loads of challenges along the way – a car accident may just feel like another bad day! 

While everyone is impacted differently by hardships, for most people, something has risen to crisis level when the pain and impact of a hardship disrupts one or more of the following areas: 

1. Physical Health:  trouble sleeping, overly tired or lethargic, no appetite, physical pain
2. Emotional Health:  an increase in stress, anxiety, fear, guilt, shame, anger, frustration, discouragement, depression, loneliness, loss of motivation, suicidal thoughts, or an urge to hurt oneself
3. Spiritual Health:  lack of a desire to pray or read the Word, disconnecting from Christian fellowship, doubting God, or escaping into sin
4. Relationships:  emotional distance, withdraw, anger, or irritation with your spouse, children, parents, or close friends
5. Daily Responsibilities:  not taking care of yourself, not taking care of your family or home, missing work, or skipping social engagements

A crisis could be caused by a wide range of life circumstances, such as:   

1. Broken Relationships:  a close friend cutting you off, alienation from your parents, breaking up with a romantic partner, or divorce. 
2. Fallen World:  you or a loved one impacted by cancer or other severe sickness, chronic pain, a debilitating accident or injury, or a natural disaster
3. Loss:  a close friend moving away, children leaving the home, being fired from your job, a house burning down, or a loved one dying
4. Your Sin:  addiction to drugs or alcohol, pornography or sexual immorality, lying, stealing, or violent behavior
5. Sin Against You:  being cheated on, physically abused, emotionally mistreated, or socially oppressed 

As you can see, a crisis could be caused by a wide range of destructive choices or devastating circumstances and it can have a broad scope of damaging impacts.  If you, a friend, or loved one is ever in a severe emergency with the threat of physical danger, seek immediate help from emergency services, a hospital, or call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.  While every person and every situation is different, there are certain principles and approaches that can be helpful in recovering from any crisis.  Consider these godly principles: 

1. Bring it to the Light:  Don’t hide or minimize what you are going through.  If the crisis was caused by your own mistake or sin, own it and confess it.  If you are facing a person or circumstance that is harming you, don’t minimize the impact it is having.  Keeping a hardship hidden in the dark will only cause it to fester and grow over time.  Share what you are going through with a trusted friend, mentor, parent, spouse, pastor, or counselor.  Not only will getting it out in the open be a big relief, then you can also receive prayer, advice, encouragement, and accountability. 
2. Minimize Triggers:  Part of what makes a crisis so destructive is that the impact is ongoing; however, you can be wise and intentional to minimize the ongoing triggers.  If you are struggling with substance abuse, get the alcohol out of the house, and take a different route home to avoid the liquor store.  If you are struggling with pornography, have a friend put password protected boundaries on your phone.  If you are facing the ongoing impact of an abusive relationship, eliminate interaction with that person.  If you are healing from a traumatic accident or death of a loved one, seek to avoid places that rekindle those difficult memories until you are ready.  Stress can be a trigger for almost any crisis, so you may need to schedule more rest and downtime, eliminate extra projects at work, reduce unnecessary commitments, etc.  Keep in mind, minimizing triggers will not provide a long-term solution but it will provide some short-term relief so you can pursue deeper health and healing. 
3. Foster Healthy Coping Mechanisms:  When faced with a crisis, we all need some way to get by and manage it.  The question is, will you rely on healthy or unhealthy coping methods?  Unhealthy coping mechanisms could include: drugs or alcohol, overeating, pornography, shopping too much, sleeping too much, working too much, etc.  Instead of helping you deal with a crisis, falling into these patterns will actually become another crisis!  If you are slipping into these things, remember the first point: Bring it to the light!  A healthy way to cope with hardship is to intentionally develop habits of prayer, worship, reading the Word, attending church, engaging in Christian community, exercise, outdoor recreation, time with friends and family, etc.  
4. Treat the Crisis Wholistically:  We are physical and spiritual beings; our bodies and our souls are interconnected.  A crisis rarely impacts only one area of our life and the road to recovery is rarely focused on only one area.  You need to treat the crisis from every angle which means pursuing physical, emotional, and spiritual health.  If you are dealing with an emotional crisis, don’t ignore your physical health.  Getting enough sleep, exercise, and healthy foods are critical.  If you are dealing with a mental health issue, severe loss, or other major trauma, visiting your doctor can be a big help.  A doctor can check to see how your physical health is impacting the crisis (either as a cause or a symptom), and recommend supplements, hormones, diet, or medication.  And if your crisis is because of physical sickness or pain, don’t ignore your emotional health, spiritual life, and relationships with others.  
5. Address the Root Causes:  I have seen too many people get through the initial trauma of a crisis and try to return too quickly to “normal” life.  While finding stability and returning to healthy routines can be a huge blessing, if you don’t address and find healing from the root causes, the crisis will just fester below the surface and erupt at some point in the future with even more devastation.  True recovery from a crisis doesn’t mean just finding a way to get by, it means finding complete healing, freedom, forgiveness, and health!  Of course, in the fullest sense this will only happen in God’s eternal kingdom, but even now, the power of Christ is at work.  Addressing root causes may be the most difficult step to recovery – which is why many people never do it.  If you are going to find healing from the crisis, you must first identify the root sin or trauma.  This means asking the hard questions: Why do I drink every night?  What is causing my panic attacks?  Why was I so devastated by losing that job?  Why am I still so crushed by the death of my friend so many years ago?  Why am I still so crippled by that past trauma?  You need to ask yourself these questions, but you also need to seek help from an experienced and trained pastor, counselor, or therapist.  And of course only the Lord can truly help you identify and treat the root causes of your crisis.  Which brings us to the final principle…
6. Rely on the Power of God: From beginning to end, with all of these principles, we cannot act in our own strength.  We must rely on the power of God.  We must eagerly pray for God’s presence to be with us.  We must look to the Father’s love to keep us grounded.  We must trust in Christ’s death and resurrection to give us freedom.  We must seek and submit to the Holy Spirit to guide and sustain us.  Sometimes God works supernaturally to bring immediate freedom from addiction, healing from a trauma, or peace in our pain.  But other times, the Lord calls us to walk patiently with him through the seemingly slow, hard process of healing.  Either way, God’s power is at work.  

Sadly, this world is too often filled with hurt, sin, and pain.  We long for the day when Christ returns and all that is wrong will be made right.  And so, as we wait for that day with eager anticipation, we can even now stand in faith to face the hardships of life.  May the love and grace of God give us strength.