In a Mess

GOD does have a sense of humor. No, I am not truly in a mess, but I found the title "In a Mess" from yesterdays "Living the Message" funny.

Eugene Peterson was writing about the first verses in Genesis with the wonderful phrase 'formless and void'. He said that that was a mess, the chaos and how GOD creates out of that chaos. He said he told a group that he liked the mess. Here is some of that devotion:

...I do not mean I like messes as such, but I like that sense of being in a mess, held there by hope, knowing how God's creativity works, slowly, slowly, slowly, but always with surprises....

I found it funny because I always seem to find myself in some kind of mess, chaos so to speak.

Last night as I was driving home, I heard Delilah on the radio. She could have been speaking about me and my life. I didn't know whether I should laugh or cry.

Then this morning as I am trying to get my essay uploaded to my application for Regis, well everything you could think of could go wrong and has pretty much continued that same way all morning. However, what a change I feel in my spirit as these 'things' have been happening. All I could do was PRAISE JESUS and say 'bring it on'. I am ready for the fight today and I KNOW that I will win.

And GOD continues with that sense of humor. My devotional this morning in "every woman, every day", well you see GOD's humor, at least for me, in it. Here is what it said:

You now have a choice. So what will you focus on- the pain or the hope? Probably both at first. There will be days when the pain will overwhelm you, and your anger will drive hope far away. That's okay. God understands, and He won't bop you over the head for your lack of faith. He'd rather hug you and draw you near, if you'll let him. You're His child, remember?

Still, thanking God for the revelation and choosing hope for the future is the first step to your freedom. Sure, your first faltering steps in the direction will be like crossing a stream by jumping from rock to slippery rock, which means it won't be easy. Being thankful in the midst of chaos is always a challenge. Sometimes it'll feel as if you're thanking Him for your pain, which may seem comical and even hypocritical in your eyes. And it may take daily discipline, even moment-by-moment discipline, to maintain a grateful outlook.

But as you discipline your heart to the truth and choose to be thankful for what He has done in opening your eyes, your obedience will kick up a breeze of the Spirit's breath in your life that'll begin to dissipate your pain.

Wow, this just hit home with all that has been going on. The humor in both is that I heard a message about having chaos in your life, to then reading the word chaos last night, and to top it off this morning I read about chaos for the third time. Not to mention my life on Friday, and this morning feels like a mess, chaos.

All I know is I am looking forward as my most recent pain turns the clock forward to a new hope of the future. GOD is sooo good even in the chaos of life.