It is hard for me to describe the discomfort I have inside. Unrest. Confusion. Noise. Racket. The waters of my life are murky and muddy and polluted with confusion. There just does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to my jumbled thoughts. Chaos, tumult, and unquietness reigns – along with disorder, disarray, and dissonance.
Are you there right now? The thoughts of your heart seem to be scrambled and jumbled – confused and perplexed.
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. 1Corinthians 14:33 ESV
Yes, I’m aware that I am taking the verse 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. A commotion. So much so, that it was just one big mess, a noise and utter confusion. Some may think the uncontrolled excitement in a church gathering, accompanied by euphoric goose-bumps is of the Spirit. It definitely wasn’t back then and never is today.
1 Corinthians 14:33 couldn’t be plainer: “For God is not a God 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’s confusion or a racket going on in a local church – it is not a spiritual thing. It is not of God.
Now here’s an application but it’s not a far-fetched one. Anytime there’s a mess in my life, any time I am experiencing unrest and a tumult inside, anytime when the waters are murky and muddy and confusion reigns – well, God is not the cause of it, nor is He the source. 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’s an inner restlessness and unquietness, the struggle is me. When my life is noisy and chaotic, the problem is not God. The problem is ME. There is some area of my life that I have not surrendered to the Lord. Self will.
It could be the Lord has sent or allowed something to come 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 or allowed the circumstance – but really the unrest is caused by my own reluctance or refusal to submit to the Lord in some matter in my life.
Always remember the words of 1 Corinthians 14:33: “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” Identify the pockets of resistance and the areas of self-will and stubborn thinking. Confess. Submit and surrender and let the God of peace take charge. He specializes in bringing peace, tranquility, and quietness to troubled hearts who are longing for peace.
Spend some time today thinking about this verse:
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15
Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today,
Warmly in Christ
Peter Ramsay
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