Today as I woke up in the wee hours of this new mountain time zone we’ve been living in for the last 11 days, I was struck with the thought about order in chaos. Yes, I’m counting down the hours until our move into our new house this morning, realizing that the chaos of this transitional move out west is about to hit a new level. According to our shipping manifest we will have 149 boxes and 330 other non-boxed items arriving today.
Today we will see our house like never before. It will be 39 years of life, 13 years of marriage, and 7 years of children filling our lives with joy and fun. It will look a little like this clock above. This is the “order in chaos” clock. It’s funny to see it was in the top google “order in chaos” image search results. I think it’s so appropriate on a day like today, where our boxed and non-boxed house will arrive in chaos….still resembling our stuff, but not quite in order.
I love the verse in Peterson’s Message translation of Psalm 33 where it reads in verse 5:
He loves it when everything fits, when his world is in plumb-line true. Earth is drenched in God’s affectionate satisfaction.
As I was thinking through the day in light of this verse, I realized that God’s plumb-line true world isn’t necessarily in our terms of order. A survey of the old and new testament would testify to His control and order amidst chaos. In fact, some of His best work is in that arena of chaos. In our earthly, real-time, perspective it won’t always seem to fit. When I reflect back, I can see how it all fit so well.
I know that as we walk through this day of settling into the new house, Wendy and I will make order of this chaos. We’ve moved from 3,000 square feet to 300 square feet in the Homewood Suites for the last 11 days. That was chaos, but we kept a somewhat sane sense of order in it (and when I say we, I mean Wendy…as usual:) I couldn’t imagine doing this without God before me and with me…and I couldn’t imagine doing this without His greatest blessing in my life, my amazing wife Wendy!
Today we put on these shoes and walk out what God has planned for us. It won’t be easy. It won’t be completely in order. It will be a beautiful display of order in chaos. It will all fit, and be in His true plumb-line.
Breathe In & Smile Out,
Chris
