Finding Order in the Chaos

Ron Phillips

M. C. Escher was a Dutch graphic artist, known for some of the most interesting art of the 20th century. Two of his works, Relativity and Waterfall, are classic examples of his work, which combined art, architecture, and optical illusion. He once said that…

 “We adore chaos because we love to produce order.”

Sounds a lot like man’s relationship to God.

Our world --- devoid of God --- is chaos. At Adam’s Fall, the world was plunged into disarray. Yet, each time one of us makes the decision to leave the chaos of death for life in Him, He takes what was confusion and disorder, and turns it into a beautiful paradox… a life that was seemingly going nowhere that now has eternity as its open road.

Not sure which way is up? Just reach out your hand to Jesus. As imperfect and chaotic as your life may be, He still adores YOU!

A God of Chaos?

Sheila Graham

Do you ever feel you’re in a chaotic mess? I’m spending much of my time either trying to avoid chaos or get out of it. Earlier this year—you know, New Year’s resolutions—I had the bright idea to reorganize my home office. I know what, I’ll (meaning my husband) build some shelves in the office closet to hold the printers and other equipment taking up my space.

Well, one thing led to another. Electrical and computer cables had to be redirected. Files had to be moved out of the closet to make space for the shelves. Everything was piling up in my office, so we could hardly get in and out.

Jesus Cleans Up Peter's Mess!

When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered, and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.
-- Luke 22:49-51

Have you ever had a time when it nearly broke your heart to see what a mess a friend had made of his life? Because you loved your friend so much, you were willing to do anything necessary to assist him in getting his life back in order again. Although you knew it would be difficult, you were nonetheless willing to step into his disorder, chaos, and confusion to help him because you knew he'd never get out of his mess by himself. 

Let's see what Jesus did for Peter that night in the Garden of Gethsemane after Peter chopped off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the high priest. There is something we can learn from the example Jesus gave us that night. 

From Overpowered to Empowered

Lysa TerKeurst

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)

It was one of those days. I was driving to the airport in the pouring rain. The skies were grey. The day felt a bit gloomy. And honestly, so did I.

There were just a lot of little things swarming my thoughts. Feelings of inadequacy stinging. "There are so many things I'm responsible for and never enough hours in the day. I do enough to keep things from sinking. But I just wonder if I'm doing anything well. I don't think I am ... doing anything well."

Silver and Gold

A few months ago a reader wrote to tell me how devastated she’d been by the breakup of her marriage. One day her husband simply told her he no longer loved her and wasn’t interested in working things out. The marriage was ended.

At times her pain was physical. She felt as though she were having a heart attack. But through the pain and chaos, she refused to doubt God, telling him she knew he was faithful and good. During the months that followed, this heartbroken woman kept seeking him, yielding her life again and again.
Now a year later, after living through what she describes as the darkest time of her life, she speaks about healing and a new freedom to love God that she never imagined possible. Her hope is palpable as she tells of her confidence that the best is yet to come.

Surrender: the Only Way to Live

by Rick Warren 

Though he was God, did not demand and cling to his rights as God, but laid aside his mighty power and glory, taking the disguise of a slave and becoming like men.” (Philippians 2:6-7 LB)

Everybody surrenders to something or someone in life. If not to God, you’ll surrender to popular opinion, money, resentment, or fear, to your own pride, lust, and ego.

We were designed to worship something, and when we fail to worship God, we create gods (idols) to which we surrender ourselves. E. Stanley Jones said, "If you don't surrender to Christ, you surrender to chaos." You’re free to choose what you surrender to, but you’re not free from the consequences of that choice: “So give yourselves completely to God” (James 4:7a NCV).

Surrender is not the best way to live; it is the only way to live. Nothing else works. All other approaches lead to frustration, disappointment, and self-destruction.

STOP MAKING GOD “SAFE”

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34

Our Open Doors colleague, Ron Boyd-MacMillan, shares the following insight from his teaching, “Why I Need to Encounter the Persecuted Church.”

Don’t let them make God safe!” These words of send-off for me at the Bombay airport were from an Indian Christian evangelist. He had a low opinion of western churches. After visiting them he confided, “They have managed to turned a dangerous God into a safe one…instead of a God that burns with fury against hypocrisy, idolatry and injustice, they have a God that turns a blind eye to all our faults, just keeps on loving us with a disinterested air, and seems not to care whether we stand out for him or not.”

Chaos Now For Beauty Later

Written by Claire Colvin

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19, NLT)

I am in the midst of a kitchen reno and my house looks like a disaster zone. The simplest tasks are complicated and frustrating. The kettle is in the en suite bathroom, the tea bags are on the coach, the mugs are somewhere in the living room. Everything takes longer. Nothing looks familiar.
Even when it’s time to rest it’s hard to relax in a room that is literally stacked to the ceiling. The other day I stood on the bare concrete floor and thought about the beautiful kitchen that is going in. I remembered all the years I had prayed for a place of my own and I took a deep breath. “It’s chaos now for beauty later,” I said to my roommate and I heard a whisper in my heart. Oh, there’s a lesson in that.

Spider Surprises & Spiritual Attacks

The other day I called my mom to see if she wanted to join me for lunch. She agreed to pick me up and then we surprised my two sisters, my grandmother, my nieces and my nephew who were already enjoying lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant.  It was really nice to see everyone together! Sometime during the conversation my mom shouted out, “Did she tell you what happened yesterday?” Her tone made it sound like an interesting story.

My oldest sister’s eyes lit up as she begins to divulge a horrifying story. She was cleaning the drapes in her bedroom when a black thing fell from the top of the curtain, passing behind her shoulder; dust was also flying around, so she didn’t think twice about it.

A Prescription For Peace

Tracie Miles

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)

Despite attempts for more than a year to figure out what was wrong with me, doctors could not identify a serious medical condition. It's not that I wanted something to be wrong. I certainly didn't need anything else to stress about.

I was desperately seeking a prescription for peace.

Looking back I can see the main culprit for my stress was my job. Overwhelming expectations and the impossible perfectionism my supervisor demanded took their toll on me physically, emotionally and spiritually.

His harsh criticisms and comments made me feel inadequate, and my self-esteem plunged to an all-time low. Chaos swirled around me, stress raged within me, and my health continued to decline. But I didn't recognize the cause.

When a medical diagnosis continued to elude doctors, I believed the lie that excessive stress was normal and I needed to learn how to live with it.

God's Secret Agents

Greg Laurie


It seems that Americans today are fascinated by the concept of angels, depicting them in everything from jewelry and Christmas decorations to movies and television programs. A poll conducted by Time magazine in 1993 reported that 69 percent of American adults believed in the existence of angels, and 46 percent felt they had their own guardian angel. Also, 32 percent claimed to have felt an angelic presence at some time in their lives. Also, a 2000 poll conducted by the Barna Research Group of Ventura, California found that 81 percent of adults polled said they believed that "angels exist and influence people's lives."