Just before the dark days of the Second World War, English Prime Minister Winston Churchill famously said: “Never let a good crisis go to waste”! 

His statement has been adopted and re-quoted by many politicians in recent years: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” If there’s a mass murder, they use it to further their gun control program. If there’s crime committed against a homosexual, they use it to further hate crime legislation, and so on. “Never let a good crisis go to waste,” they say. In other words, their philosophy is that you can always use a situation to advance your political position.

Now, while we may not agree with that politically, there is a legitimate application that we can make to that spiritually. We all WILL experience various crises in our lives — Jesus said “in this world you will have tribulation” — and when we do, we really should not “waste” those experiences. What do I mean “waste”? I mean that God always has some purpose for what we go through; there is something good He wants to accomplish; some lesson for us to learn through it. So whenever we go through something hard, we need to make sure that we don’t waste that: “Never waste a good crisis.” Make sure you learn, and do, what God wants you to through it. 

And … WE have been through a crisis this week, haven’t we? Do you think any one of us will ever say again: “Oh it’s just a CAT 1” hurricane?! That “CAT 1” hit us pretty hard here:  No power/water for many of us; no air conditioning in this South Texas heat!; many are like our neighbor across the street, with a tree crashed onto the roof of their house. We have a pastor friend in Freeport who is recuperating from foot surgery in his home; his wife is battling cancer — and they had a tree branch crash through their ceiling — it literally rained through into their house the other day! It’s been a crisis week for many of us: no electricity, no water, no refrigerator/freezer, no food, no work, no tv, no comfort, no rest. 

Yet in all of that, God has a purpose. He has things for us to learn; He has things for us to do. “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” I do believe that is true spiritually. So what are some things we can learn through this “Hurricane Beryl Crisis”? I want us to focus on three things this morning:

I. We have much to be thankful for

Just a couple of weeks ago we looked at James 1, where it says every good thing bestowed, and every perfect gift is from above … from the Father of lights.” Everything good that we have, comes from God. So Psalm 116:1 says, “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindess is everlasting.” God gives us so much — but He has given us SO much, especially here in America, that we often we take His blessings for granted, and forget to give Him thanks for them.

Well, some of things that we take for granted, weren’t granted to us during this last week, were they? They were taken away. And we got reminded of just how much we really do appreciate them!

In the middle of the electrical outages, Madison Mutina Ramsower wrote this on Facebook:  “Sitting here with no power or running water really makes one stop and reflect on the things we take for granted on a daily basis.”

Isn’t that the truth? Do you realize how much “we take for granted on a regular basis” like Madison said? For example: 

— I just go to our refrigerator 2-3 times every day and fill up a glass with water and drink it. I never give that a second thought. There is water, pure, clean drinking water, right there for me, whenever I want it! What a blessing it is to have that! Have you ever thought about that?

In Robert Caro’s biography of Lyndon Johnson he wrote about how the women of Texas used to have to draw water from a well for everything in their home. Caro interviewed one woman who took him down to the well and showed him hard it was to draw just one bucket of water — he said it was SO heavy, to pull that thing up from the well, and then carry it back to the house and use it! Then he found a 1940 Department of Agriculture bulletin that said that the average Texas family back then used 40 gallons of water per person, per day, for all uses. So for a family of 5, that means they needed 200 gallons of water per day — all of it hauled BY HAND from a well — and usually by the wife of the home! He said, no wonder these women looked so worn and old in those vintage pictures — and they didn’t live very long either! You can understand why! 

Yet most of us don’t have to do anything like that, do we? We can just stroll leisurely into the kitchen, put our glass up there, and get as much water as we want — COLD!  Or with ice. Or with crushed ice if we want it!

For most of the history of the world, this would have been considered the most amazing luxury — and many of us enjoy that every day, and think nothing about it.

Or the electricity and lights we enjoy. How many times this week, while the power was out, did I go into my closet, and while I was on the way in, thoughtlessly flip the light switch on? Of course, we didn’t have any power, so that light was not going to come on. But I did that over and over. You just take it for granted that it’s going to be there.

There is SO much that we have, that we really do just “take for granted,” that we should be thanking God for. 

Some time ago, someone said, What if you only had, today, the things that you thanked God for yesterday? How much would you have? I have gotten in the habit the last couple of years, of starting my day by reading and praying some Psalms, and then thanking God — and I begin by just reviewing the previous day, from first to last, and thanking God for every good thing I can remember from that day. When you do that, you see that you have a LOT to be thankful for, every day! And it’s a great way to begin the day; it gets you in a good mood to start THIS day; thankful, and looking to “God, from whom all blessings flow”! 

We have SO many blessings. And the greatest blessing we have isn’t just one of the “modern conveniences,” but the eternal salvation God has provided for us in Jesus. He died on the cross and paid for our sins, so that we could be totally forgiven by God, and saved. THAT is the greatest blessing we have — don’t take it for granted! Thank God for it every day.

But we have SO many blessings. That’s one of the lessons we can learn from crises like this week. It’s so nice to go to bed with the a/c running cold. A lot better than sweating yourself to sleep in 84 degree heat with a little battery-operated fan! We have a LOT of blessings. And when they’re taken away from us for just a little bit, we get reminded of just how many blessings we have — and that we often take for granted. So “Don’t Waste a Good Crisis”! Let this week remind you to be thankful to God for so many blessings He has given us!

II. There’s always an opportunity to minister.

Near the end of the Book of Acts it tells the story of how the Apostle Paul was chained as a prisoner, on the ship to Rome to be tried for his faith. The ship wrecked in a storm, and they all somehow made it to shore — but the whole time, Paul was witnessing, and ministering to the soldiers and the other people on the ship. He himself was going through a crisis — but he was always looking for an opportunity to minister — even in the midst of his own crisis. 

And that’s a good lesson for us, too: in our own times of crisis, let’s watch for opportunities to witness and minister that the Lord will give us. 

Jeff from Samaritan’s Purse can tell you: a crisis is actually a really good time to minister, because people have needs, and it gives us an open door to help meet those needs, and to show God’s love to them. Crises also can help us “get out of the box” of our “routines” that can sometimes become a rut, and God will show us some different ways to minister. 

For example, during the COVID crisis many people were not getting out, so our staff and deacons called through the whole church roll, checking on everyone. Then one week we took the Lords Supper elements out to every member of our church who couldn’t come get it. To me that was one of our highlights in ministry of my time here at First Baptist Angleton.

A crisis is an opportunity to call and check on people. And this crisis has been that way too. Larry Watson told me the other day that he’d had about 15 people call or text and check on him! I said, Larry I didn’t have that many people check on ME! (Really I had plenty check on me, thank you all!)  But a crisis can be a good time to reach out and check on someone, and let them know you care. And sometimes they’ll give us  an opportunity for us to minister to someone in a specific way.

And we’ve had people who have done that this week:

— David Gregory and his boys have been busy all week helping people with their chain saw. They went over to one of our senior ladies’ houses and cut down a huge piece of a tree with a lot of branches that had blown down. She asked if she could pay them, and they told her, No ma’am, we’re just here to help. These guys were living out last Sunday’s sermon about how true religion is visiting widows in their distress. 

— Dolan Harris took out a group of our youth yesterday to pick up debris from several of our senior adult’s homes. These are some fantastic kids — and great parents too by the way! We are so blessed with them.

— We opened up a cooling station at church and had dozens of people come by several days this week, to cool off, and get ice, and a cold water. I met one family from our community who came in to charge up their electronics. We also had at least one family stay the night here since the storm had punched a hole in the wall of their house, and they had no power at home. 

This has been a good opportunity for our church to minister. We didn’t “plan” all this ministry this way — but sometimes God plans the best ministry opportunities that are beyond anything we had planned. 

For example, during COVID I was looking for some way to help our Sunday School teachers with some tips for the upcoming week’s lesson, so since it was hard to have in-person meetings, So I just recorded a little lesson overview on my iPhone and put it on YouTube so they could watch it at their leisure. I didn’t realize that just anyone could search for “Sunday School lesson help” on the internet and watch that video — I just made it for our 7 adult class teachers. But that first week, I noticed that it showed that over 100 people from around the country watched it, then the next week over 500, then over 1000 — and now there are over 4300 Sunday School teachers around the country who subscribe to that lesson overview each week. I wish I could say, Yeah, I had this great idea to do this, but I didn’t. GOD did it all — but the thing is, He did it as a result of a crisis — the COVID crisis. It’s a good reminder that God often uses the crises, and some of the most difficult times we go through, to give us an opportunity for us to do some of the best ministry we will ever do for Him. We’re going to have some great opportunities to minister this week — sign up and let us know how you can help — or volunteer with Samaritans Purse. We didn’t plan to minister this way this week — we thought it was going to be VBS — but God has given us another way. In whatever we go through, He gives us some way we can minister to others. 

Many of you know the story of Corrie Ten Boom, the Dutch woman whose family hid some Jews in their home, and who were discovered, and sent to a Nazi concentration camp. There is just no worse situation in life than being thrown into a concentration camp. There just isn’t. That’s the worst it gets. But even in the worst situation, Corrie and her sister Betsie used that opportunity to start a Bible study in their concentration camp dorm, and they led countless other women to the Lord, who would NEVER have been saved otherwise. 

Sometimes people say things like, how could a loving God allow something like the Holocaust? You know what? We don’t KNOW what all God did through the Holocaust! We don’t KNOW how many Corrie Ten Booms led how many countless thousands of people to Jesus in those places who otherwise might never have been saved. We can’t always see how God “causes all things to work together …” and “works all things after the counsel of His will”!

Corrie Ten Boom found an opportunity to minister even in the crisis of her concentration camp. That just reminds us that there’s always an opportunity to minister, even in the worst situations we face in life. So in our times of crisis, let’s be sure to watch for the ministry God has for us there. “Don’t Waste a Good crisis.” This coming week, watch for the opportunities God will give you to witness and minister, to others in the aftermath of this hurricane.   

III.  You learn who and what you can, and can’t rely on!

Isaiah 36:6 says, “Behold, you rely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.”   The Bible says there that the nation of Israel had “leaned” on Pharaoh and Egypt, to deliver them from the invading Babylonians. But it says Egypt was like a broken reed. They trusted it, but it couldn’t really help them. 

That’s true of a lot of things that we “lean” on — but we find out they aren’t trustworthy. They break under pressure. You can’t count on them. And you especially see that in a time of crisis like we just experienced with Hurricane Beryl. It revealed to us a lot of things that we just can’t rely on.

— This last week showed us that we CANNOT rely on our technology: the forecasts can be off; the internet that we are so dependent upon, can go down. We can’t rely on it.

— We can’t rely all the comforts we’ve gotten used to in our country. Our comforts are many; as we said, we have much to be thankful for — but we’ve seen that they can ALL be taken away in a flash! Just like that: no electricity, no water; no internet; no open stores, no fast food to run and get any time you want … on and on. We take these things for granted, and we’ve come to rely on them, and trust that they’ll always be there for us — but they WON’T! We can’t put our trust in these things. This time of crisis has shown us so many things that we can’t rely on.

These times also show us some things we CAN rely on. Some of them are the good people of God, who come through for you in times of crisis.

We found out late Monday night that we had some flooding in the church; the hurricane had driven water both inside the front door and into the church, and also through the seams in the wall into the youth room. So late that night, David Gregory and Jhett, and James Peterson came up here, and got the big wet vac from the back room going and got it all cleaned up. And let me say: David had a lot of trees down in HIS own yard. James had two trees down in HIS yard. These guys had been working all day on their own crisis, yet they came up here at 9:00 after that horrific day, to serve, and they did it with a glad heart. It’s nice to know that you can rely on the people of God in times of crisis. It’s like I said of Stephen Head after the COVID crisis; these are the kinds of people you want by your side in a battle. I’m grateful to God that we have those kinds of people in our church family. I’m grateful for our Texas Baptists who have come out with their Disaster Relief teams, and all God’s people with Samaritans Purse. Thank God for the blessings He gives us through His people. 

But of course we know that even the best people are just people. We’re all human. We’ll disagree with each other sometimes; we all sin sometimes. We’re all just people. And God shows us over and over in His word that we can’t put our ultimate trust in people.

But we CAN put our ultimate trust in HIM. That’s one of the biggest reminders of a crisis like this. Put your trust in the Lord. He will never let you down: 

God’s power never goes out!

His living water never runs dry.

His mercies never fail.

His lovingkindness is everlasting.

We can absolutely rely upon God in our worst times of crisis. 

Psalm 46:1-3 says: “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. (2) Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; (3) Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.

THAT’S quite a picture, isn’t it? That Psalm says the whole earth may change, the mountains — so massive that we consider them to be permanent and immovable — but he says even these mountains may one day slip into the heart of the sea!  The most solid and seemingly trustworthy things in this world can be shaken, and cast into the sea. But he says despite all that, we will not fear.  

WHY? 

— Because we have a comfortable, air-conditioned home? No. Our a/c may fail us — as we’ve seen this week!

— Because we have cars that we can drive anywhere? No. Our car may fail us; or gas might not be available.

— Can we trust all our money? No. The economy or the banking system may fail, and we could lose everything.

— Are we confident because we live in America? No. Because even America may not always be here. We love our country, but Mighty Rome rose and fell, and even our great land may one day too. 

No; Psalm 46 says “therefore we will not fear” because “GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH; a very present help in time of trouble.”

God never fails. He is always with us; always in us, if Jesus is our Savior. In the hottest, darkest moment of the hurricane crisis of 2024, we could still get up first thing in the morning and read Psalms and pray and lift up our requests to the Lord, and know that He hears us; and sense His Spirit inside us, comforting us, leading us, empowering us to serve, and learn, and grow, and glorify Him. And even if our life is taken away, we know we’ll go straight with Him to eternal glory in heaven!

THAT is what we can rely on. We can always rely on the Lord.

But you need to make sure that you are really relying on Him for your salvation. Don’t put your trust in how good you are, or the good works you’ve done. Your faithfulness isn’t enough to save you. Like the great song says: “In Christ ALONE my hope is found.” Trust what JESUS did on the cross to save you. Lean on HIM. Rely on HIM. Make sure your trust is in JESUS to save you — and to carry you through your crisis hours. Make sure your testimony is like that of the old hymn: 

“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

In CHRIST the Solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand.” 

THIS is the biggest, and most important lesson we can learn in a time like this: learn what, and WHO, you can really rely on. Put your absolute trust in the Lord! 

CONCLUSION:
SO: “don’t waste a good crisis.” Don’t be like an unthinking animal, that just endures whatever it has to go through, but doesn’t really learn anything from it.

— Be thankful for so many things we take for granted

— Watch for the opportunities God will give you to minister and witness.

— And most importantly, make sure you know who you can rely on. Make sure that God really IS your refuge and strength, and that your ultimate hope is in HIM. Don’t waste a good crisis; make sure that “In Christ Alone My Hope Is Found.” 

INVITATION:

How are you going to respond to what we’ve experienced this week? “Don’t waste a good crisis”! Make sure you learn something from it; respond to it in the right way:

— Give God thanks for things you’ve been taking for granted

— Ask Him to show you ways that you can minister and witness to others this week

— And especially learn what/who you can/can’t rely on. And especially make sure that you are relying on Jesus ONLY to save you and get you into heaven …