Good Morning!
It's been a while since I last wrote anything, and the reason being that when I started writing again I wanted to be sure that each post was something I felt God was laying on my heart to write. Over Christmas and New Year, and even through January I just didn't have that sense of a message I felt it was right to share, and so I guess the regularity of my writing may be seemingly quite haphazard! Although perfectly ordered to Him, I suppose!
Which leads me in nicely to what I'd like to share with you! Order in the Chaos!
I would not say that I am an especially well ordered person! Sure, in some areas of life I like things to be done in particular ways. When I make my toast with peanut butter and banana slices I like my banana slices to be placed in a specific order (which Owen finds very funny!), I like a certain amount of routine to my week, and if something throws off some of that routine life begins to feel very chaotic and unsettling.
But in other ways I love spontaneity, a break from the normal monotony of life, and anyone who has ever been inside our house will know it is anything but ordered or tidy!! I suppose it links with discipline, and when it comes to housework, I'm not especially disciplined!
But here's where my head is at as we start 2019. From the beginning of January God has been speaking to me about my heart. Challenging me to give Him my heart completely, holding nothing back. My prayer has been that God would continually transform my heart, reveal the junk that needs dealing with and in turn transform my way of being, my words and my attitudes. Particularly those areas of my life that I so struggle with on a daily basis (namely parenting!!).
Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your hearts, everything you do flows from it."
If our hearts are full of darkness, fear, bitterness and chaos, then this flows out in to all other areas of our life. When chaos is spilling out from the inside, we can often then try to control the things that we can in the external by trying to bring order in to it. Like placing slices of banana on to a piece of toast in a very specific order, writing lists or creating strict routine to order our day!
As Jesus says to the Pharisees in Matthew, "First clean the inside of your cup and dish and then the outside will be clean." (Matt 23:26)
This week I have had the words, "Bring order to my chaos" going round in my head. One of those occasions where even though I am saying the words, I know it is God prompting me to say them. At first I didn't make the link between this and the heart issue. My first response was to try and start bringing order to the chaos in my home (which definitely needs doing!), but as I have thought on it more I realised God was reminding me to keep surrendering my heart to Him. And you know what? The more I surrender my heart to Him, the less chaotic and unsettling the stresses and strains of life become because, "God is not a God of disorder but of peace" (Psalm 19:14), and the more my heart is being transformed to become what He is calling me to become. Less chaos, more order!
What I love about God, though, is that even when He's bringing order in to the chaos that doesn't mean that there is no beauty, spontaneity or creativity! With Him they exist together! Marvelous!!
I'd love to know what God is speaking to you about at the beginning of this new year, if it's not too personal to share.
Have a fabulous week!
Much Love
R xx
