Chaos

I remember from my seminary Old Testament class that one of the themes in the bible is that God creates order out of chaos. In Genesis 1:1&2 it says: "¹In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ²And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." God takes this formless void and orders it in a way that makes it inhabitable and hospitable to all His creatures.

We often find ourselves in a formless void of chaos. Unemployment, under-employment, financial stress, strain from work and family strife; all work together to sometimes make our lives feel like there is no order, no control, and inhospitable to us. Can God make order out of this chaos? We instinctively think He can. Let me explain...

Today I walked into my office having taken a week off. Let's be clear, I've got the greatest job in the world. I get the privilege of introducing people to the love of God through the saving grace of His Son, Jesus Christ. Don't think for a moment that I'm complaining. However, I'm also the CEO of a $1 million not-for-profit institution called "Good Shepherd United Methodist Church," with about 800 members and constituents. So, when I take a week off my desk is the same "chaos" that you experience when you take a week off. And like you, when I walk into my office and see the pile of work details that haven't been done in a week I utter under my breath, "God help me."

"God help me," and other utterances like that (with or without the curse words depending upon your own vocabulary) is in fact a prayer. Look at what it says in Romans 8 "²⁶In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." That "God help me" utterance is a prayer that comes out as a "groan that words cannot express." Next time you find yourself uttering such things, bear in mind that you've just communicated your frustration with God and He will not disappoint.

I only wish He would care for this chaos on my desk in one day like he did in the first day of creation. I'm afraid He and I will be working on this for a while.