I sit on my bed and stare at the closed door to my bedroom.
My bed is beautifully made with a gorgeous black and white quilt that I love
which was handmade by a lady in the church and I sit still in my pj’s on this
quilt as I soak up the peace that this tidy, quiet room brings me. The beauty
from my window blesses me each morning as I wake to a view of our backyard with
a backdrop of the mountains of Montville. All is calm, quiet and still in that
room. I can think clearly, pray peacefully and enjoy God’s presence
uninterrupted.
But as I look over to the door again, I know what lies
beyond it. I know the moment that I open the door to the rest of the house,
chaos will reign on this Friday school morning. Two weeks with my husband away
means that the kids behaviour has just been awry for the last few days as they
try to push the boundaries with only one parent ruling the nest. Everything within me cries out for order.
Everything within me wants to hide and to stay within my quiet, peaceful room
for the rest of the day. But life wasn’t meant to be hidden…. And I am needed
beyond that quiet room….
One of my favourite places to go to relax and destress is
the beach. Have you ever noticed that it is only tiny bodies of water, closed
off from the ocean that are ever still? The waves crashing in from the ocean
are never still. They are always rolling in and out, moving with the tides and
the wind. But what lies beneath is an ordered oceanic ecosystem. Below those
waves tossing about is the interaction between organisms and their environment
in an ordered cycle of nature that was designed by our God. God created order beneath the surface whilst
the ocean exterior was affected by external sources causing waves, upsurges,
groundswells, breakers, dumpers, or just ripples.
Genesis chapter one informs us that before the earth was
formed the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface. And as the Creator
formed together a world of beauty, a world of ordered ecosystems and harmony –
the Spirit of God was there hovering above the order. God created order – and
the Spirit hovers above the surface.
There are many external sources in our lives that cause
waves, upsurges, groundswells, breakers, dumpers or ripples. And we can often
feel the effect of these deep below the surface. But two things we need to
remember in these times of feeling tossed around by the waves or pulled out to
sea by the rips:
Firstly, God created order deep below the surface of the ocean
and He creates order deep within our souls. Secondly, just as in the beginning,
the Spirit hovers above us and within us as the waves crash around us. When God
says “Be still and know that I am God”, he is speaking power over the chaos
within you. He orders our souls to be still and know who is the God of order
and peace. As in the beginning where all
He needed to do to form the creation of the world is to speak, all He needs to
do to form order and peace within our souls is speak ‘be still.’
So I stopped for a
moment that morning in my bedroom and hear Him speak into my soul saying ‘chaos
will not reign but I will reign above the chaos.’ I feel the Spirit of God hovering around me
and within me. I take a deep breath, open the door… and step out into the waves.
