7 Tips for Managing a Crisis
Character is not made in a crisis—it is only exhibited. —Robert Freeman
When a crisis, like the one we find ourselves in today, hits you, it is too late to wonder if you are ready or not. You will soon find out. And yet, regardless of whether or not you turn out to be prepared for going through a difficult time, the crisis will teach you new things.
If you have been growing and maturing as a citizen of the Kingdom of God for a while, you may be pleasantly surprised. Of course, the crisis itself will not be pleasant. But your Kingdom-style reactions to it may demonstrate that you have been learning your management lessons well. You may discover that, instead of fear and panic, you have peace in your heart. Instead of gasping for breath and grasping at straws, you may find that you are able trust God utterly, just as you have always wanted to be able to do. You may have moments of meltdown, but for the most part, you will react in a clearheaded and clear-hearted way, and you will be able to help your family and friends to do the same.
If this is you, the crisis situation will give you a review lesson. Your priorities will be put under a microscope. Have you been managing your affairs well but placing a little too much of your security in your income level? Now is the time to repent of trusting in money and realign yourself with your God, who is your Provider. Have you been faithfully attending church and tithing, but putting more trust in your pastor or in the institution of the church than in God Himself? Your crisis situation will expose the foundations under your feet. God will use it to help you grow.
If, on the other hand, you have been lax in your walk with the Lord, taking Him for granted and just living a life that looks more or less like the lives of the people around you, a crisis will wake you up with a bang. God wants to get your attention. He cares about you too much to allow you to waste your life. He wants to give you a crash course in management skills and a review of the lessons you have learned up to this point.
If you have been lax in your walk with the Lord, a crisis will wake you up with a bang.
The very nature of a crisis will force you to learn things the hard way. You will wish that somebody would come and tell you what steps to take because your brain won’t be working too well, especially when you get caught up in fear or anger.
For that reason, I want to lay out seven ways to begin to manage a crisis, especially a crisis that has financial ramifications such as a job loss, unexpectedly high bills, a family health crisis, a natural disaster, global pandemic, foreclosure on your home (even if you are renting your home, your landlord can suffer a foreclosure), or a national financial breakdown that affects the welfare of everyone.
I will explore each one of these ideas in a little more detail. How can you begin to manage a crisis? Start by evaluating your life and by doing the following:
Determine your needs.
Acquire only what you need.
Do not live beyond your ability.
Withdraw the unnecessary.
Delay major projects.
Value your possessions.
Save, conserve, and protect your resources.
1) Determine Your Needs
First, you must determine your needs. Many of us make a shopping list before we go to the store. But how many of us make lists of the true needs in our lives?
We must be clear on the difference between our needs and our “wants.” When we are in a crisis, we must know the sometimes fine distinction between our needs and our wants, and we must be able to figure it out quickly.
Most of us jumble our needs together with our “wants.” We find it hard to tell the difference between them. Sometimes we just want something so badly. But wanting something very, very much will not convert it into a needful thing. Do you really need that new dress you saw in the shop window? You know you don’t.
Sometimes we put things into a “need” category because of what other people might say. We think we need to look the part to belong to whatever group we think we should fit in with. “What will people think if I don’t even have a [fill in the blank]?” “What will people think of me now that I am divorced?” “Won’t they reject me if I set up my business/church/home in that neighborhood that has a bad reputation?”
Often, we feel obligated to carry out other people’s expectations. For example, perhaps you have always given expensive gadgets as Christmas gifts to your family members, but your husband has lost his job, and you have had a large number of extra expenses this past year. This Christmas, take stock of your budget, and determine to buy practical things for your family members. Keep it simple. You may even decide to make the gifts yourself. Get creative. Bake somebody a cake, and put his name on it. Grow some flowers in pretty pots. Offer to give your time and skill to help people with projects around their houses. You do not have to let your former lavish gift-giving dictate what you do this year.
In a crisis, your wants must go away. This is not the time to fret about that beautiful something or other that you had your eye on. You may be used to eating out for lunch every day. This is the time to start carrying your lunch from home. Don’t whine, “But I still want to go out to a meal with my friends at least once a week.” You may want to do that, but now it is crisis time, and you need to stay home and cook. Resolve today to figure out the difference between your true needs and your wants. God does not want you to live in a gray zone. Indecision and fuzzy thinking will put you in a dangerous position: the middle of the road. You do not want to live there. If you are out there in the middle of the road, one crisis after another will keep running you over.
2) Acquire Only What You Need
What once seemed like a good idea—purchasing that nice piece of property on the other side of town—will not look like such a smart plan when your income is in jeopardy. When a crisis hits, all of a sudden you do not need that piece of property anymore. If you go and buy it anyway, you may regret it. You may end up with a worthless piece of land.
In a crisis, push the “pause” button.
In a crisis, as far as your acquisitions are concerned, push the “pause” button. Buy only what you are reasonably sure you will need. If you know a hurricane is coming, go and buy some jugs of bottled water and a couple of flashlight batteries, but skip the sale on lawn furniture. If you have made an adequate determination of the difference between your needs and your wants, it will not be so difficult to put a limit on what you acquire. Acquire only what you need.
In a crisis situation, you are going to need liquid assets. You are going to need money to spend on necessary purchases and to settle outstanding debts. The currency in your wallet and the coins in your pocket are liquid assets. The money in your bank accounts such as savings and checking accounts is a liquid asset because you can gain access to it quickly. In a crisis situation, you do not need more fixed assets, such as the piece of property I mentioned above. Your home, even if it is worth a lot of money, is a fixed asset. Selling it and converting its value into cash will take a long time, and in a time of regional crisis, that transaction may be unachievable.
3) Do Not Live Beyond Your Means
In a time of crisis—or any time, for that matter—you should not live beyond your ability to pay your bills and to maintain what you have acquired. This is simple common sense. Too often, however, it seems that simple common sense is a rare commodity. It is a matter of needs versus wants again.
Check your bank account. Take a look into your wallet. Add up those bills. Is your income ahead of your spending? Or is your spending ahead of your income? Are you using credit too much?
Living within your means—what a foreign concept to some of us! We operate out of skewed thinking. To be honest, we are “living within our wants” most of the time. And we wonder why we are in trouble. As the months go by, we become magnets for crisis, and our personal crisis cannot be blamed on anybody but ourselves.
It is far better to lose a little pride than to lose your shirt.
Live within your means. Make a decision to do so. Tell somebody else about it. Become accountable to follow through on what you have decided. Ask for advice if you need to. Far better to lose a little pride than to lose your shirt.
4) Withdraw from the Unnecessary
When you have determined the difference between your true needs and your “extras,” you can draw the line between the necessaries and the unnecessaries. The necessaries of life are the things you truly need—food, shelter, and a little bit more. The unnecessaries include the luxuries—that club membership, that shopping expedition, those tickets to the concert series.
Yes, you will have to sacrifice. Someday you may be able to have it again, but not right now. Remember, everything you “own” is not yours anyway. It belongs to God, and you are the steward of it. When times are tough, far be it from you to act as if you are wiser than God, who reminds you that you were bought with a price, and you are not your own (see 1 Cor. 6:19-20). As the New Living Translation puts it, “…You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price….”
Everything you “own” is not yours—it belongs to God.
If you revise your spending habits, you may have a surplus, which you can give away to other people. We tend to forget about the importance of being able to give to other people. If you are squandering your time and your money on unnecessary things, you will not have anything left over to give away. “…God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7), and “whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Cor. 9:6). When you are so busy running around spending money, you may not even have any time to give to others. It will be hard to justify your extra spending when you are driving your SUV to the gym and you approach that intersection where you always see the guy with the cardboard sign on which he has scrawled, “Will work for food.”
Withdraw from the unnecessary. Your life should not consist of running around spending money. It is OK to withdraw from expensive obligations, especially in a time of crisis.
It is also OK to withdraw from certain friendships if they are dragging you down. You may think that it does not matter what kind of people you associate with, but it does. Jesus said, “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?” (Luke 6:39). Some people get stuck in crisis mode because they are afraid of conflict and they cannot disassociate from friends who are spiritually blind.
Disassociation does not have to be confrontational. You can ease out of people’s lives quietly and keep your integrity in the process. When they notice that they haven’t seen you in a while, you can just smile and say, “Well, I’ve been real busy.” When a whole year goes by and you have not stopped to say “Hi,” you can admit that you have been working on some projects, doing some extra things, fulfilling some responsibilities. You can be like Nehemiah, who responded to the people who wanted to distract him from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” (Neh. 6:3).
5) Delay Major Projects
While you should remain busy and work hard, you should not undertake big, new projects in a time of crisis. This is another variation on the same idea: in a time of crisis, make a conscious decision to curtail your plans for improving your property or whatever you manage. Governments are doing it. Companies are doing it. You have to do it, too.
When a major company cuts back, the people in upper management do not seem to have any feelings. They say things like, “Cut the staff 35 percent,” and then they walk out of the boardroom. They don’t care who has to go. They don’t care how you did it. They don’t care if they hired some of those staff members personally. Just “cut the staff 35 percent,” and that is it. That is how you have to be in your personal life right now, because in a crisis, you can’t hesitate because of your feelings.
Did you think this would be the year to install that new air conditioning system? Put that on hold, and get the old one fixed. The market is doing crazy things, and you cannot be sure that you will be able to pay the price of a new system. If you have reservations, do not take the risk.
Regroup and try again later after the tide of the crisis has ebbed.
6) Value Your Possessions
I like this suggestion most of all. It stimulates resourcefulness, and at the same time it cultivates an “attitude of gratitude.”
Whether your possessions are few or you have more possessions than you can count, take stock of them with fresh eyes. They are valuable. Thank God for each item, big or small. Look for the unusual things—that little pot you keep your house key in, the wooden table next to the front door where you put the pot, the house key itself.
Appreciate the gifts and resources you otherwise take for granted.
Thank the Lord for His provision for you. Thank Him for whatever occurs to you, such as the family member who gave you that pot, or for the roof over your head that the key represents. Just appreciate the gifts and resources that you otherwise take for granted. It will be good for your soul. This simple exercise of gratitude can keep you from suffering from the disease of dissatisfaction, which often drives people to say, “I want more! Give me more, more, more!”
Next consider how to better use the things you are now grateful for. Do you have a big house, with only one person (you) living in it? Could you rent out some of the extra bedrooms? Could you contribute some of the furniture to a single mother who has none? Would it make sense to set up your office space at home? In a way, those extra rooms are dead. You are only one person; you don’t need four bedrooms to sleep in.
Making better use of your possessions is good management. You are adding value to something that was just sitting there gathering dust.
What do you have outside your house? Do you keep two cars, even though you can only use one of them at a time? Why keep wasting your time and money maintaining two cars? This could be a good time to try to sell one of them. Turn that possession into liquid cash, and put it in the bank. Give or sell it to your nephew for a price he can afford, so he can have a vehicle to commute to college. What about that big truck you bought a while ago? Could you turn that truck into something? Maybe it could become a weekend business for you. You could use it to move things for people who don’t have a truck. Do you see what I mean?
Value everything you possess. Especially in a time of financial crisis, you never know how useful your possessions may prove to be.
7) Save, Conserve, and Protect Your Resources
I meet people all the time who seem to think that “save” is a four-letter word, in a negative sense. They just cannot do it, or so they say. After we sit down and talk for a while, they begin to see that if they change their spending habits and protect their assets, they can save after all. Sometimes I send them to financial advisors who can provide some wisdom for them. They need structure. They need a plan. They need to be decisive rather than impulsive about what they do with their money.
Save, conserve, and protect are very similar terms. If you had a chalkboard or a whiteboard in front of you and I told you to draw three pictures to illustrate “Save,” “Conserve,” and “Protect,” chances are good that your three pictures would look similar. I would draw a big heap of items, and put a fence around it. If I asked you to demonstrate with your bare hands what these three words mean, you might make gathering-in motions and then covering up motions, like a mother hen protecting her chicks under her wings.
Bahamians have a notoriously difficult time saving, conserving, and protecting. So do Americans. The Commerce Department of the United States government has a division that is called the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The BEA puts out a quarterly report of the rate at which American citizens save their money in the bank. From the beginning of 2005 through 2006, 2007, and the first part of 2008, the savings rate was less than 1 percent in almost every quarter. In one quarter of 2005, it dipped below the zero line, which had not happened since the 1930s during the Great Depression.
The savings rate crept up slightly as the economic crisis intensified in 2008, but it remains very low. People are still living paycheck to paycheck, depending on credit cards, and hoping that they will not lose their jobs. As unemployment rates soar, more and more people will discover that they should have been “saving for a rainy day.”
They need new habits of taking care of what they have already, and I am not talking only about money. Our possessions are also our resources. As I have been saying throughout this book, it is important to learn to use the things that you already own. Don’t just toss them out and buy new ones. The early settlers had the right idea when they used everything up, fixed whatever got broken, and reused things after they were no longer useful for their original purposes.
Steward your resources with God’s wisdom.
If you are short of money, you don’t need a handout or a windfall from the lottery. You need management. You need to learn to steward your resources with God’s wisdom. You need to save, conserve, and protect the provision He gives you.
Seek First the Kingdom
As you are saving, conserving, and protecting your resources, you do not need to hoard your money or your possessions. You are a Kingdom citizen, and the King wants you to trust Him. You do not have to be anxious about saving enough just as you do not have to worry about becoming a good manager of the resources He has given you to take care of. He will help you.
Many of us have a false view of prosperity. For starters, we think it means excess. We ignore the Bible verses that warn us about the dangers of prosperity. (We must think those verses could not possibly apply to us because even the truly rich want more and do not feel as prosperous as they think they should.) The Bible reports that the people who are burdened with excess wealth have to spend all of their time and energy protecting it. And for what purpose? As long as it is being hoarded, it is not doing anybody any good. Too much money can give you headaches and make you depressed. You put bars on the windows and deadbolts on the doors, worrying all night that someone might steal your wealth.
Remember the story of the wealthy farmer in Luke 12 and the warnings in the fifth chapter of James.
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail….Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded….You have hoarded wealth in the last days….You have lived on earth in luxury and self -indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter (James 5:13,5).
After telling the story of the wealthy farmer who died before he could enjoy his riches, and after talking about how the Lord provides for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, Jesus said this:
Do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:29-34).
In the end, it is all about the Kingdom. Whether you live in poverty or in wealth, whether you suffer the effects of war or enjoy a time of unbroken peace, God wants you to be contented in your spirit (see Phil. 4:11). He wants you to take practical measures to overcome every crisis and sometimes to head them off before they have a chance to hit. But most of all He wants you to live as a trustful, relaxed citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Even when you are working 16 hours a day and sweating buckets, you can have a peaceful spirit. That’s the best way to live.
Living by Faith
We live in a consumer-driven culture, and it is in a crisis all the time. The society around us is obsessed with things. People are perpetually tired and worn out, distracted and depressed, irritable and in a hurry. They suffer from stress-induced illnesses, and they treat each other poorly.
The Kingdom of God is not like that in the least. The sources we need are supposed to come to us in the natural course of living our lives according to God’s design and intention. We do not seek the Kingdom of God because of its benefits, but its benefits come to us as we seek the Kingdom. The provisions and resources that we need are not meant to become the objects of our faith. They are meant to be the byproducts of our faith.
The provisions and resources you need are byproducts of your faith.
Kingdom dwellers have faith. Their faith grows as they exercise it daily. True Kingdom people do not treat their faith as a tool or a trick. When they exercise their faith, it is not like playing a slot machine, where if they somehow end up with the right combination of words and actions, they win.
Rather, it is a relationship, albeit with an invisible King. This King of ours has communicated liberally with His people, especially through His written Word. He has displayed his laws and His principles and has made them accessible to all who have eyes to see and ears to hear.
God’s Son, Jesus, came to preach the Kingdom of God. He did not confuse His listeners when He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33 NKJV). For a member of the family of the Kingdom, what was truly worth seeking? Only two things: the Kingdom itself and the righteousness that comes from God.
A Kingdom person does not live for a job. A Kingdom person does not live for a spouse. A Kingdom person does not live to gather blessings. Rather a Kingdom person lives to display the love of God to the society around him or her. A Kingdom person may revert to old habits of self-protection, but soon remembers that God wants to supply every need.
The King is both Father and Savior. He is omnipotent, which means “all powerful.” He is omniscient, which means “all knowing.” He is omnipresent, which means He is everywhere at the same time.
There is no crisis too big for God and you to handle together.
Therefore, we can say with Paul, who wrote to the Roman Christians in their ongoing crisis situations:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? [In other words, every crisis known to the world.] As it is written:
For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. [We are overcomers.] For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the [unconquerable, ever present] love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35-39).
Pay attention to the notes I added to these verses. For Kingdom people, these verses are important words. They express the message of this book—that there is no crisis too big for God. He will make sure that His people can conquer and overcome anything because His love is never overshadowed by any crisis.
Myles Munroe
