“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” – Genesis 1:1-5
It is clear from the very beginning, that God brings order out of chaos. The very first lines of Genesis describe the chaos that existed before God spoke. The text tells us that; “the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep!” It’s sort of curious to have the Bible start with this thought. Why not just start Genesis with the words “Let there be light!”? Why describe the chaos before God’s creative Word is spoken? It’s obviously intentional. In fact, I think it’s theological, in other words it tells us something about God and us. God begins with a formless void and by His Word brings order, beauty, life, peace, and relationship in being. When God speaks, creation is ordered, and chaos is not only controlled, but it also dissolves and disappears. The greater truth here is that God’s Word does that in our lives as well. When the Word of God is present in us, when we are near it, hear it, study it, and listen to it – our lives are ordered. We find peace, purpose, and relationship as the Word shapes us.
The same can be said in reverse. When we drift from the Word our lives naturally devolve into chaos. We are more anxious, we question our gifts, our purpose, we lose hope and can descend into the chaos of despair. We can see this in many Biblical stories; apart from God, chaos abounds. On the other hand, with Jesus, with the Word of God, there is love, joy, peace, patience…on and on. God’s Word always brings order out of the chaos that we can find ourselves in from time to time. It plants us, heals us, strengthens us, fills us, and sends us into the world with hope – knowing that the God of order is for us and with us.
You could say under the current reality with all the construction going on at Living Word that we are in a season of chaos. You could say that, after all, in some small ways that is true. We are certainly living in a level of discomfort. Our normal flow of parking, entering the church, navigating where it’s safe to walk, limiting temporarily how we do things – all of this brings some chaos in our normal flow of being the church. However, chaos will not win the day or be the story of this season of Living Word because we serve the Lord who orders all things by His WORD. That is why it is SO important that throughout this process, this uncomfortable season of building up the church, that we cling to the Word of God! We must keep our focus on the Word of God and trusting the Holy Spirit in the process. And because our focus is on Jesus, the Word of God, I know that we will feel a sense of order, purpose, grace, and excitement for the future that God is working out even in the chaos of construction. After all, we are simply being obedient to where the Lord is leading us. This is all for the purpose of proclaiming Jesus’ name. It is so all who come to Living Word now and long into the future will be a people of the Word, who step into the chaos of the world “living God’s WORD and sharing God’s love!
In Christ,
Pastor David A. Christensen