There is a longing in all of us for order.

Now, in fairness, that longing varies by degrees. For example, you might be the kind of person who has a list for everything. You have a list for groceries, you have a meticulously kept household budget, and a daily checklist for work. You might organize your clothes according to color, season, or sleeve length, and you might have every photo rightly categorized in the cloud.

Or you might not. You might be the person who shows up at the grocery store not knowing what you’ll come away with, who likes the free-flowing ideas of a brainstorming meeting, and finds boredom when nothing in life changes every six minutes. 

And of course you might be somewhere in between. But regardless of where you are on that spectrum, there is still a longing for some kind of order. Your order might look different than mine, but it’s still there. Because order, in its various forms, brings a sense of security and stability. It helps us function efficiently at work and at home. It helps us know what’s coming, at least in part, and helps us prepare reasonably for it. 

And that longing for order is one of the things that has been so difficult during this latest season of life. Because we have received so many – and so many different – definitions of reality, life has felt unordered and chaotic. That has been, and continues to be, difficult. But here again is a moment to come back to one of the fundamental realities we know from our faith. That God is a God of order. More specifically…

God’s Word brings order out of chaos.

It always has. Imagine back with me to the beginning. Actually, to the beginning of the beginning…

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters (Genesis 1:2).

Formless. Empty. Dark. That’s what everything was like. In a word, chaotic. And then? Well…

Then God said…

There was order. God’s Word brings order out of chaos. And oh, how comforting that truth is.

Think of a situation at work you’ve been in when everything seemed chaotic. There were competing priorities, ideas, and initiatives. Everyone was going their own way, each convinced their “thing” was the most important “thing.” And then a trusted leader stepped into the fray and calmly spoke clarity. There was order. And out of the order, people were able to move forward.

Or think of a time at home when everyone had something going on. There were sports, homework, meal prep, and the drone of 18 different electronic devices going on at the same time. Chaos. But then an adult in the house gathered everyone’s attention and organized what needed to be done and how it would be done. There was order, and out of the order, everyone was able to move forward.

This is one of the gifts of order – not only does order have a calming and focusing effect, but order simply helps everyone keep moving forward. This is what God’s Word does for us time and time again, just as it has done for God’s people time and time again in the past.

The Israelites were in a fray of confusion, nearly immediately falling into idolatry after receiving their deliverance and freedom from slavery. And into that chaotic frenzy stepped Moses, from the mountain, to deliver God’s Word about how they should live in relation to God and each other:

“Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. Do not have other gods besides me…” (Exodus 20:1-3).

In the days of the judges, when everyone did whatever was right in their own eyes, it was a chaotic time of violence, oppression, and confusion. But into that chaos came again the Word of God, delivered through His prophet Samuel, to give definition and order about the way forward:

“The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground” (1 Samuel 3:19).

And of course, there is the Living Word, God’s flesh and blood message of Himself to us in the form of Jesus. Jesus, who brings clarity to sin. Jesus, who brings clarity to justice. Jesus, who brings clarity to love and grace. Jesus, who is the final and everlasting Word that brings order from chaos:

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:1-2).

God’s Word brings order out of chaos. In these days, then, in which we feel this sense of chaotic fervor, let us again commit ourselves not to trying to figure out the chaos in our own wisdom and strength. Let us not rest on the ability to define right in our own eyes. Let us look to the Word which time and again will bring order from chaos. Let us look to that Word and go forward.