Embracing chaos while waiting for the approaching glory
Photo by Frank Oberle on Unsplash
This year was going OK, until the virus decided to pay us a visit. First, it was my wife. Then, our daughter and I. We were in quarantine a little over five weeks, but now we are all recovered, moving back toward first-week-of-the-year normality.
All of this was a helpful reminder of how chaotic life can be; I have come to the conclusion that the reality of the here and now is a constant flux, a permanent state of mayhem. This makes the simple realities of the Good News even sweeter. The Simple Gospel provides the stability, the gravitational pull we all need to face this swirling sea we call life.
What does the Simple Gospel say? It says that...
- I am loved by the Triune God of the Universe. Eternally.
- He provides a deep, sweet, intimate communion with Him. Now.
- This communion extends to my relationship with fellow believers.
- Here and now, I can begin to know Him better
- I can see the evidence of His work in me: humility, compassion, generosity
- He is near and that His glory is approaching.
- All this is because of His grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone.
Because of the Simple Gospel, then, I can embrace chaos while I wait for the approaching glory. I can invest my life proclaiming this reality, the Good News, mainly through prayer and service to others.
Not a bad way to go around in the whirlwind of life.
Consider this.
- Do you know the Simple Gospel?
- How are you waiting for the approaching glory?
- What does "embrace the chaos" mean to you?
1. I think that knowing the simplicity of the Gospel is not that hard, but REMEMBERING the simplicity of the Gospel...that’s the challenge.
ReplyDelete2. Sometimes with patience, sometimes with frustration, sometimes joyfully, and other times with longing.
3. Embracing chaos means acceptance (which is hard, REALLY hard for me). I enjoy simplicity, but chaos is complex. It’s one thing after piled on top of another, and it often seems unrelenting, never ending, and exhausting. Maybe that is because rather than accepting it (or embracing it, to use your terminology), I resist it. But I can only resist for so long before I here the voice of God (often in the faintest most subtle of ways) telling me to stop resisting, and to accept. It doesn’t make the chaos go away, but it does make it bearable.