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What do you do when life throws you a tragic curveball? How do you pick up the shattered pieces of your life when the one thing you've prepared for and dreamed about suddenly slips through your fingers as wind-driven sand? How do you recover when your vision is clouded by pain and your life plunges into despondency and despair? What do you do when a lifelong dream is suddenly taken away from you without warning and through no fault of your own?
As women, we all have faced some type of crisis, whether it's a failed marriage, children on drugs, breast cancer or other illness, loss of a job, wrong choices or as in Anna's case, the sudden death of a husband. Crisis can be defined as "a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, especially for better or for worse, is determined; turning point; a dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in a person's life" that leads to a "decisive change." The way to overcome every unforeseen crisis is found in the one who is the overcomer: Jesus. Jesus tells us in John 16:33b, "In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." This Scripture speaks to the providential care of the Lord. Providence comes from two Latin words: pro, which means "before," and video, which means "to see." You can have confidence in Jesus' ability to see what is ahead in your life and arrange provision and power to overcome. How do you access this overcoming power?
My one answer is hope. I'm not referring to wishful thinking. I believe hope is a person, and His name is Jesus. Jesus is hope. He provides hope. Hope is an expectation and confidence to see God's goodness in life's difficult situations. Hope is the anchor of your soul when life is hard to navigate.
When the storms and tribulations of life come crashing in upon you, you can be anchored in Christ and His promise to cause all things to work together for your good. Romans 8:28 says, "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." The word know means "to see; to perceive, notice, discern, discover; understand." I believe Anna's perception and understanding, based on her personal experience with God, prepared her to walk through this hardship. She had already discovered God was working things together for her good.
God has promised to release His power and wisdom to overcome difficult and seemingly hopeless seasons in your life. Taking hold of this promise from God creates confidence and perseverance instead of anxiety and fear of the future. When you have a purpose and destiny in God, you can be assured that God will cause trauma, tragedies and disappointments to work together for your good. I am not saying that God causes these traumatic things to happen, but He will use them to get the best out of your life.
God is very intentional about your growth. The correct response to crisis produces perseverance, character and hope. You must know that surely there is a hope and your future will not be cut off! You will survive. 
Michelle McClain-Walters serves as director of prayer ministry at Crusaders Church and as one of the house prophets and apostolic team leaders. She has traveled to more than forty nations, conducting schools of the prophetic that have activated thousands in the art of hearing the voice of God. She is the author of The Prophetic Advantage, The Deborah Anointing and The Esther Anointing. This is an excerpt of her new book, The Anna Anointing.
