Calm Amidst Chaos

Greetings all,

It has been quite some time since I have found, or should I say taken, the time to make blog posts beyond sermons and Bible studies; but life has finally slowed down a little or at least enough for me to make a deliberate effort to be back in the saddle so to speak, and there is nothing quite like a good devotional to kick you in the butt when you need it.  This morning was one of those days.  The author for this week in The Upper Room Disciplines: A Book of Daily Devotions 2010 made the following statement regarding deliberate time with God, "It is easy to lose our focus when the problems of our everyday lives crowd around us.  We put off contemplation and reflection as things we'll do when the chaos around us ceases, when we feel more like praying, when we are less stressed, less anxious."

Isn't that the challenge of the Christian life, how to be a Christian amidst the chaos.  How to listen to God when there are hundreds of other voices all shouting for our attention.  How to make a point to spend a few peaceful moments amidst the constancy that is the chaos of our lives.  How to give God the time He needs to do a real transformative work in our lives.  I must confess that there are days when the chaos wins out, when even I as a pastor fail to pick up my Bible, or bow my head in prayer, or even read a Christian author.  For me blog posts are part of that time spent with God when I can process all of the thoughts about Him running through my head.  That time with God is good for me, it transforms my day, but knowing that doesn't always make it so.  I am guessing I am not alone in facing this challenge of overcoming chaos to find time for Christ. 

Eugene Peterson followed up the Upper Room author with a little encouragement.  He was like the trainer in a boxing match that patches the fighter back up to send him back into the fray.  These words of Peterson from Running with the Horses patched up my split lip and gave me some hope, "Prayer is never complete and unrelieved solitude; it is, though, carefully protected and skillfully supported intimacy.  Prayer is the desire to listen to God firsthand, to speak to God firsthand, and then setting aside time and making arrangements to do is.  It issues from the conviction that the living God is immensely important to me and that what goes on between us demands my exclusive attention."  He goes on to say, "What we do in secret determines the soundness of who we are in public.  Prayer is the secret work that develops a life that is thoroughly authentic and deeply human." 

Peterson, in his calm, encouraging, pastoral way, calls me back to the deliberate focus that is required to maintain an authentic relationship with God.  He reminds me that my deliberate time with God forms the manner in which I live out my Christian life.  He reminds me that I need intimacy with God and that I must protect that reality at all costs, because it is in that intimate connection with the Creator of the Universe that I am transformed into something more, into something better, into something holy, into a person whose life brings glory to God and makes it easy for others to believe in Jesus.  He reminds me that it is not the case that I can wait until the chaos stops, because with five kids and a church family IT DOESN'T! 

It is not the case that I can wait until I am rested to give my full attention to God, because did I mention the five kids.............yeah, that means I never feel rested.  It is not the case that I can wait for that day when there is no stress in my life so I can really focus exclusively on God, because parents with middle schoolers exist in a bubble of stress!  Our lives are always going to be chaotic on some level, so if we are going to find calm amidst that chaos we are going to have to simply stop amidst the chaos and focus on God.  It may mean not watching our favorite sitcom at night, or getting up a few minutes earlier, or finding three or four different shorter time periods during the day; but however we do it we must take those moments to stop the chaos long enough to see God face to face, listening and speaking.

When we make that time for God we will find calm amidst the chaos.  Everyone's lives are chaos on some level, but one of the things that should set us apart as Christians from others is a certain calm amidst chaos; a calm that attracts others and beckons them to ask, "Why are you so calm?"  Living lives that make it easy to believe in Jesus means finding that calm amidst chaos so when we are asked we can respond, "Let me telling you about my chaos calming God!"

Your brother in Christ,
Faron