God is a God of Order

"For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. " 1 Corn 14:33

Order can only be achieved through finding balance in our lives. 

If you look at the natural state of the world everything is perfectly balanced out. God created both land and sky. Night and Day. Boys and girls. Plants and animals. Happiness & Sadness, hungry & full. Even if you look at the body it is perfectly balanced. Because we are created in the image of God we naturally want things to have order, and to be balanced.

But what happens when our desire for order is out balanced by the chaos of our reality?

We want to have a close relationship with our friends and family but we don’t make time for them.

We want to be treated with respect yet we disrespect others.

We want more money, yet spend the money that we don’t even have.

We want more time but then we spend the time we do have on our cell phones.

We want to do right yet we choose to do wrong.

What about when we want miracles but it’s too much of a mission to pray.

If we look at the book of Job he goes through a lot of chaos in his life even to the point where he wishes he wasn’t born. Job is a holy man and the devil saw that. So he asked God if he could challenge Job and God allowed it because God had faith in Job. Long story short job losses his family, his belongings and became very ill. Through it all Job did not curse God, but he did question why he was going through the trails because he believed he was blameless. Elihu was the only friend who offered him sound advice which made Job realise that his chaos was never about him, it was about God receiving the glory through his restoration.

“But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God.” Job 32:2

“But you (job) have said ‘I am pure, I have done no wrong;    I am clean and free from sin. Yet God has found fault with me;  he considers me his enemy. He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.’ “But I, Elihu, tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than any mortal. Why do you complain to him that he responds to no one’s words? For God does speak—now one way, now another— though no one aware of it.” Job 33: 8 -14

“God does all these things to a person—   twice, even three times— to turn them back from the pit, that the light of life may shine on them.” Job 33:29

It was only when Job's heart changed, that God changed Job's world. In the end God restored everything back to Job in double portions.

If we look to find God in every bit of our chaos, our disobedience and our failures then he will turn our chaos into order.

Here are three steps to achieving balance:

1. We need to start finding the purpose of our chaos.

In the beginning of July I decided to do a 4 month, part-time, web course. The week before I began my studies I freaked out a bit; as if my current busy life wasn’t hard enough to manage, I couldn’t image adding something else to my plate. I began the downward negative spiral convincing myself that I would be unable to balance part-time studies, a full-time job, serving at church and still making time to see my boyfriend, family and friends. I went on my knees and began pleading with God to somehow give me one extra hour in the day and that’s when I heard His voice as clear as day, “You asking me for more time, but you not giving me the time that I have already given to you.”

And it clicked, the one thing I didn’t prioritize in my to do list was the fact that I needed to get into the presence of God every single day. Instead of being too busy to spend time with him, I needed to tell me “busyness” that I’m busy spending time with God.

So instead of asking God for more, ask God to help you manage what he has already given you and then He will bless you with more.

2. We can only gain control by losing it to God.

God is more concerned about our heart conditions than our living conditions. Sometimes he will allow us to go through a trail because he knows that it might be the only way for us to draw close to him again. Let him change your heart so you can change your world.

3. Put God in the Center.

Your chaos will become order once you learn how to balance what God has placed in your hands. Take off the weights of what is unnecessary, any doubt, negativity, or condemnation and put on the weights of the God’s promises, while finding rest on the axis of God.

“Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you” Psalm 139:12

The darkness, the chaos, the confusion will not feel like chaos once you have found its purpose, given the chaos over to God and put God in the centre of it all. I now know that no matter how busy my season is, God is always busy working. He is busy turning things around for my benefit and for His glory.

Preconceptions, Our Greatest Misconceptions

What a busy week it’s been, haven’t even had time to share my thoughts with you, but after Sundays I tend to be so fired up that the only thing I can think about is writing. Firstly I would like to say count your blessings every week, I am so truly thankful for the blessings I received last week. Quick highlight roll, my blog reached 1000+ views, had a successful week at work, and had a wonderful evening at creative night, although that night ended differently to what I imagined! The shop my dad manages had an armed robbery and my dad was held to gun point, with the robbers constantly shouting “I’m going to shoot you”. Our God was his shield, He gave him peace in the midst of the situation and my dad said he felt at ease. So thankful that God intervened and gave my dad a second chance at life, I could’ve been sitting here right now typing a memorial post about my father but instead this is an opportunity for me to express how short life truly is, be thankful, and celebrate each day, time is a gift be grateful when you live to see another.

Okay let me get down to it, my post today is about preconceptions; making up your mind about something or someone before taking the time to experience things first hand resulting in your own opinions which are influenced by the opinions of others. (Wow that was a mouthful).

I want you to realise that preconceptions are our greatest misconceptions. We don’t know or understand everything but we like to think we do. We look at a situation or at people from the outside (judging a book buy its cover), we stand there tapping our foot and rubbing our chin formulating ideas, and then coming up with our own conclusion.

As humans we tend to like our comfort zone and we become complacent, we become picky about the people who form part of our inner circle and if they don’t really fit in then we become cold or stand offish. We form preconceptions about people because of what others have told us and what we think we know about their history and lifestyle. We think we know why others do the things they do and why they have made the decisions they have made. We chose to believe what we want to believe and like the people we want to like, we want others to fit in the mould we have already carved out for them. But I want to pose this question to you today, who are we to judge one another and think we are any better than the strangers we pass in the street! Who are we to choose who is good enough for us to hang out with, who we want to be seen with and who we want to invest our time in, there is no ranking system the only thing that separates us is difference. Imagine if Jesus were picky, choosing only the perfect, none of us would have a fighting chance. He loves all of us no matter how different we are, no matter how sinful we are, his grace allows for us to be close with him to have a relationship with him even after rejecting him at times, so shouldn't we extend the same grace to others?

Of late I have been accused of being the stalker friend, yes you accusers know who you are, haha but fact is if I ask God to surround me with more friends and he does I am not one to be picky, sitting here and selecting who I want to be friends with, people cross my path for a reason and I want to celebrate that, sorry but a hi and bye friend is just not good enough for me. I want to get to know everyone and ANYONE because I find the differences in people absolutely fascinating. My proposal to you is to get to know someone in spite of who you may think they are. When we dismiss people it may turn out to be a blessing missed.

The same goes with situations, we make up our minds about things instead of experiencing things first hand. We need to trust the fact that things will always turn out for the better. Your greatest endeavours are birthed out of your nevers. As a young successful male singer once said, “Never say Never!” We tell ourselves oh I will never leave my job and travel, I will never go to a happy clappy church, I will never go to a gathering alone, I will never pray in front of people, I will never stand a chance because .... (insert own preconceived idea here). Preconceptions are flat out excuses, excuses formulated by fear, fear of change, fear of uncertainty and fear of failure. Climbing into situations which scare you, and doing the things you would never for a minute think of doing could change the course of your life. We all think we have it figured out, our perfect 5 year plan to achieve success, truth be told you may run into dead ends or detours which may cause you to follow a different route or plan which could result in you ending up at a place far better than your original plans, far greater than the destination you planned for yourself. If you stop and take time to get to know someone and their story, if you care and love others regardless of their choices and who you think they are and see the goodness in them you will give them hope for better days! We are all equally important there is no corporate ladder for life.

Your journey is only at the beginning, take the road less traveled it’s filled with adventure and beauty far greater than the concrete highway you have taken a liking too. YOLO for God (You only live once for God, on earth that is) but if you chose the highway (no pun intended) YOLO could end up being YOUR LOW! Glorify His name in everything that you do, make decisions based on the things that will draw you nearer to Him and surround yourself with people who speak highly of Him. He loves all, encourages all and provides opportunities for all. It’s your choice whether you dive in with full trust or whether you wait at the shore holding everyone’s glasses, flip-flops and hats watching others having fun and experiencing the life you want to have! Go for it, the future is yours!

I Can See Clearly Now

As with most of the tumbleweed thoughts that roll around in my head, so were my thoughts when it came to knowledge and understanding. It has carried a lot of meaning for me over the last couple of days particularly because I've been reading the book of Genesis. Too much earthly knowledge causes us to trust in ourselves rather than trust in God. I have been so focused on trying to know everything and learn everything that I often miss the mark. To have a clear understanding of things we are required to simply slow down...

As developing humans we tend to try and equip ourselves with as much knowledge as possible. We often see and experience things that get locked away in our memory bank forever. But what is the point of a memory bank if we don’t draw anything out of it in order to invest into our future? Understanding extends beyond just the fact of knowing, it’s a feeling that moves and stirs us, and it allows us to be wise instead of just insightful.

• Knowledge informs us that God has given us willpower, understanding allows for us to decide whether to use our willpower for our own man power or for His divine power.

• Knowledge tells us to be good and do good, understanding allows us to reflect goodness because of the impact it will have within ourselves and others.

• Knowledge instructs us to read endless scripture allowing us to quote verses and know every single story in the bible, understanding allows us to be captivated by a single line of scripture that becomes so embedded in our soul like a stain that is impossible to remove. It turns a piece of scripture into peace for the soul.

• Knowledge causes clutter, understanding allows for clarity. Knowing countless facts doesn’t make you smart, if you focus your time and energy on one thing you will be able to peel off the layers of unending mystery.

• Understanding feeds passion and love, where knowledge fuels pride. We love being “know-it-all’s” and correcting other people’s mistakes but when you have understanding, you use it to inspire and encourage others to share the same understanding or revelation that you have had.

• Knowledge tells us to find God because we want to go to Heaven; understanding is living through God as if we were already in heaven. Knowledge is religion, understanding is a relationship. Knowledge makes you look good where understanding makes God look good.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not telling you to dumb down, continue to seek knowledge; it’s awesome to have a file of facts and to equip yourself with “how to’s” in order to fight the battle. But is the knowledge of surface ideas really good enough? I would like to encourage each and every one of you to take time when learning new things, once your soul is captivated with the thought move on to the next challenge. There are so many things to learn during our visit here on earth that we tend to sprint through our days, we don’t let the small things move us the way that it should.

I can honestly find splendour and peace in a flock of birds who circle the same spot in the sky day in and day out, my understanding is that they cling to comfort and to each other. When you start to unlock mysteries this world becomes a joyous place to live in and your relationship with people and with God become more meaningful and powerful.

Don’t focus too much on summer you might miss the beauty of spring...