What Is The Racket Going On Inside Me?

It is hard to describe the discomfort inside. Unrest. Confusion. Noise. Racket. The periods of my life when I can't seem to make head or tail of what's going on - the murky, muddy waters of confusion, when there just does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to my jumbled thoughts. Chaos, tumult, and unquietness. Disorder and disarray and dissonance. Maybe you happen to be there right now. The thoughts of your heart seem to be scrambled and jumbled - confused and perplexed.

I was reading in 1 Corinthians 14 and okay - yes I know I am taking something out of context and I am about to make an application. The context is disorder and confusion in the public gatherings of a local church. People speaking out loud and the listeners not understanding what they are saying - no translators. More than one person speaking at a time - no one taking turns. Just a free for all. So much so, that it is just one big mess, a noise and confusion. Some may think the uncontrolled excitement and euphoria is of the Spirit but it definitely is not and never is. 1 Corinthians 14:33 couldn't be plainer: "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace..." God is not the God of unquietness, noise or confusion. He is the God of order. He is the God of peace. Anytime there is confusion or a racket going on in a local church - it is not a spiritual thing. It is not of God.

Now here is the application: is it too big of a stretch to reach a similar conclusion about our lives? Anytime there is a mess in my life, anytime I am experiencing unrest and tumult inside, anytime when the waters are murky and muddy and confusion reigns - well, God is not the author of it. The source is not God. He is the God of peace. He brings order and peace into my life - not disorder and disarray. There are many verses to assure us that God is the God of peace. When there is inner restlessness and unquietness, the struggle is myself. When my life is noisy and chaotic, the problem is not God. In my experience, the problem is ME. There is some area of my life that I have not surrendered to the Lord. Self will. It could be that the Lord has sent a trial into my life but I am resisting and fighting against it, rather than accepting it from the Lord. I am blaming the unrest on God because He sent the trial - but really the unrest is caused by my refusal to submit to the Lord in the trial.

Today may we remember the words of 1 Corinthians 14:33: "God is not the author of unquietness, but of peace." Identify the pockets of resistance and the areas of self-will and stubborn thinking. Confess. Submit and surrender and let the Author of Peace take charge. He specializes in bringing peace, tranquility and quietness to troubled hearts who are longing for peace.