Will 2025 Be a Crisis or an Opportunity?
My Chinese is limited to “Please” and “Thank you,” phrases I used repeatedly when I spend two weeks in China. But I recently learned a new word, weiji, a word that means “crisis.” We know, of course, that Chinese is not written with letters but characters. And weiji is comprised of two characters.
Wei is the character for danger. Ji is the character for opportunity.
A crisis, then, is a turning point. A crisis can lead to something dangerous, or it could lead to an opportunity. It all depends on how one responds to the crisis.
We’ve just jumped into a new year. Many people approach 2025—as they do with any new year—as a year of change and growth. They approach a new year with optimism. Others are going into 2025 with a sense of trepidation. Maybe they fear the change in government about to occur. Some fear the economy, a looming change in their job status, or scheduled medical procedures.
I do not want to color us in black and white colors, as if you’re either an optimist or a pessimist. Life is far more complicated than blanket labels. But I do want to take a weiji approach to 2025. I wish 2025 would be nothing but rainbows, cupcakes, and puppy dogs for you, but you know that’s not likely. We will all face something this year that smacks of a crisis—whether it’s something big like a medical setback or something that’s momentarily annoying like delayed traffic. They could all fall under the broad umbrella of a crisis.
But the question is: What do we do with that setback? Do we let it debilitate us, pull us down, lead us to give up, or do something stupid? That’s letting the crisis become something dangerous. Or we could seize the crisis as an opportunity for God to work on us—or even to work through us.
“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:28-29).
God does not cause bad things to happen to us, but if we let Him, He will use whatever we’re facing for good. And what is that good? It’s right there in the passage: “… according to his purpose … to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
There is an opportunity to grow and mature as we look to Him and trust Him.
“Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing” (Jas. 1:2-4).
The crises in your life can feel dangerous, but trust God. God may allow just such a crisis in your life as an opportunity to trust Him, an opportunity to see Him at work.
Will 2025 be a dangerous road … or will it be an opportunity to grow? It’s up to you.
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