Mastering Your Crisis: Part 3

How to use your faith in a crisis

Many times, God’s people successfully maintain a certain amount of faith in the Lord although in the middle of a crisis. However, we often turn around and manage to undermine both our faith and God’s blessings with our negative, gloomy words.

In this devotional, we will see that what we believe in our hearts and speak with our lips will directly determine what God gives to us.

Let’s start by carefully and prayerfully studying these three Scriptures:

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Prov. 18:21

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Rom. 10:9-10

It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak. 2 Cor. 4:13

In other words, what we say about the problems we are going through will result in us either blessing or cursing ourselves. It’s our choice.

Let’s examine a powerful example of this in the Bible. Notice the Lord’s strong reaction to the ten spies’ unbelief, who chose to let the giants and challenges their physical eyes saw overcome their faith in God and His promises for them (read the full story in your Bible):

The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them? So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.’” Num. 14:11, 28, 30

My dear friends, notice that what the ten spies spoke was exactly what they received from God. Ten spies said they could not take the land, so they didn’t and died in the wilderness. Though, two of the spies said they could, so they did and conquered the land (Caleb and Joshua).

What each person believed in his heart and spoke out loud with his lips for others to hear was exactly what each person subsequently received from God. Each person determined his own fate with what he said.

Here is another vivid example from God’s Word that illustrates this critical principle:

[David speaking to King Saul] “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” 1 Sam. 17:36, 37

David won his victory over Goliath before his fight with the giant even started because of David’s bold proclamation of his faith in his heart spoken out loud with his lips for everyone to hear, including his family (brothers) and the king of the land.

A final Scripture:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Eph. 4:29

How often do we follow this Scripture? Does what we say around others glorify God and benefit those around us, or does what we say dishonor God, depress others intentionally or otherwise, or tear them down?

We must learn to speak into existence that for which we are believing God. Our faith must be demonstrated audibly. Specifically, we must…

• Believe God’s promises from His Word that He is with us always and has our best good in mind
• Proclaim our belief out loud with our lips
• Act on our belief through faith

Finally, if you are accustomed to praying weak “God-bless-me” type prayers that can mean anything or nothing, begin learning to pray specifically and boldly. God’s Word is clear from one end of the Bible to the other that God is pleased by His servants’ faith. The bolder our faith is, the bigger His miracles become on our behalf.

Be blessed in the Name of Jesus!