God regularly uses crises to accomplish His redemptive purpose.
His deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea is an obvious example.
So is the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ to rule at the right hand of the Father.
But one of my favorite illustrations of how God uses crises to redeem situations involves the dream He gave the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2).
When God gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream he couldn’t understand, it created a crisis.
The king warned that if his wise men didn’t make known the dream and its interpretation, they would be torn limb from limb.
This warning got Daniel–and his friends–praying.
In mercy, God responded to their prayers by revealing the dream and its meaning.
This ended up redeeming the situation in many positive ways:
Lives were saved.
The pagan king honored God.
And good men like Daniel were made rulers in the land.
In short, the Lord used a crisis to change an evil and idolatrous political structure through a few praying men.
In the past few years we’ve been experiencing our own crises, involving health, morals, politics and the economy.
These troubling times are taking a toll, making us anxious and fearful.
Each passing week brings another event that makes for an even more ominous moment.
But instead of fearing, let us be praying, seeking compassion from the God of heaven (Dan. 2:18).
And let us look to the One who is the Lord of kings in anticipation of His deliverance.
When crises come, God is up to something.
And we should join him with our prayers.
“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us” (Ps. 62:8).