2 Kings 4:40
“So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.”
Recently my daughter and I were in the car going to pick up our dog from the veterinarian, when I looked to my left and saw a man fall to the ground. Immediately, I made a u-turn and went to the parking lot where the man fell so I could help. As I got to the gentleman, I was amazed how people were standing around him doing nothing as he was bleeding. I quickly got down and started helping him until the paramedics could get there. What amazed me was how people didn’t know what to do in a crisis situation.
In the verse above, Elisha faced a crisis situation. The preacher boys had prepared a meal to feed the crowd, only to realize after they served it that there was poison in the pot. The preacher boys were in a panic, but Elisha calmly took the situation and handled it correctly. His handling of the situation kept people from losing their lives.
How you handle crisis situations can literally be life and death. Certainly at times it can be a literal life and death situation, but it could also be a life and death situation for a person’s future. Because in the Christian life we deal with people, every situation we handle is a life and death situation. When a crisis comes, you must learn how to handle them properly so you can save those whom you influence from destruction. Let me give you some suggestions on handling crisis situations.
First, don’t panic! One of the worst things you can do is panic. The preacher boys were in panic mode when they discovered the poison in the pot. Panic only makes a situation worse. When a crisis happens, you must learn to stay calm.
Second, plan ahead. I have learned that planning will help you avoid more crisis situations. Planning ahead allows you to give your full attention to the crisis at hand because you’ve already taken care of situations that you knew would happen. Don’t live in crisis mode. Learn to plan ahead so that the crisis is not magnified by poor planning.
Third, ask God for wisdom. Of course, this should be the first thing you do, but sadly most of the time it doesn’t cross our mind. If you’re not in a panic, you will have the clarity of mind to stop and ask God to give you wisdom on how to handle the situation.
Fourth, assess the situation and take control. Elisha simply looked at what the problem was, and then he took control and fixed it. When a crisis happens, you must step back and look over the situation to come up with a plan on how to handle it.
Finally, work with a controlled and calm spirit. When you are calm in a crisis situation, your calm spirit will calm others. When everybody is calm, then you have a greater chance of settling the crisis.
Everybody will have crisis situations come up from time to time. Always remember that God knew they were going to come. Remember that God is never in a panic mode and that it is going be okay if you will work through the crisis in a methodical way. You will find that when you handle crisis situations right that your influence to help others will increase because they will gain confidence in how you handle these situations.