I will openly admit that I am most definitely a Type A personality, a personality that thrives on organization, schedules, and order. With that in mind, indulge me as I attempt to describe my Monday morning trip to our local Walmart this week. Yes, I had my reusable bags with me, along with my detailed list of items needed to maintain the Winkle household for another week. After stopping at a discount store to eliminate a few items from the list, I headed over to Walmart to complete my grocery shopping experience. Little did I know what an adventure awaited me!
Seems as though Walmart management thought it a good idea to rearrange their entire food section on a busy Monday morning, rather than accomplishing the task overnight, or perhaps even closing the store for a day or two while the remodeling was completed. The new aisle signs were in place, but most of the food was still in the process of being moved. Many shelves were bare, some food was randomly stacked on pallets in the aisles, while some items had mysteriously escaped the store completely (lucky them!). What an indescribable mess! Our store abuts a small, municipal airport, and I’m sure that if the roof of Walmart could have been temporarily peeled back, the pilots would have witnessed a scene straight out of a giant mouse maze, only with confused shoppers instead of mice, all scurrying about trying to escape, without ever finding the cheese!
As my frustration welled and my testimony teetered on the edge of annihilation, the Holy Spirit spoke to my distraught soul. My child, He whispered in gentleness, your Father is never the “author of confusion.” Confusion, bedlam, and disorder are counter to the character of your God. Pandemonium and chaos are tools wielded by your enemy, the father of lies, and he uses them skillfully against those lost in a world digressing deeper and deeper into the throes of depravity. I sat quietly in my car and mulled over the anxiety my walk through that chaotic store had caused my spirit, and then I became painfully aware that, to an unregenerate, lost soul, that chaos pervades their lives on a daily basis.
I sat for a moment and pondered the condition of our world today…a world suffering through a viral pandemic, a society witnessing the loss of respect for any sense of authority, major cities experiencing violence in their streets, precious unborn life being thrown away without remorse, traditional family values disintegrating at an alarming rate, a society breaking down under the heavy load of sin. I was reminded of the stern warning of God that the day would come when “the wrath of God” would be “revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men;” a day when a holy God would be forced to give “them up to uncleanness…and unto vile affections.” A day when the foolish, sinful heart of man would “darkened.” A day of pandemonium, disorder, and chaos.
But in the midst of all the confusion abounding in our world today, I have peace, order, serenity, and rest, for I am blessed to”know him, and the power of his resurrection.” Through His grace, I have access to “the peace of God which passeth all understanding,” a peace that can steady my heart and calm my mind in the most turbulent of waters. I have read the Book; I know the plan; I am assured of my future. As I was gently reminded of the grace bestowed on this undeserving wretch, my heart was pained for those dear, lost souls who daily struggle through a maze of sin, hopelessness, and destruction, with no Light to guide their path, no gentle hand to direct their steps, no assurance that there is One Who orders the affairs of men, no knowledge of the One Who, regardless of appearances, is still in control.
My Father loves me with an unfathomable love that I can not begin to fully comprehend, but His Word reminds me that with that same affection He also “so loved the world,” every soul, every creation; they are ALL precious to Him. He wants them to experience the peace and joy that bathes my soul even in the most dismal of situations. May I always be reminded that, by God’s grace, He led me way through the maze of sin and futility…He led me to His cross. Help me to see the world through the eyes of my Savior, a world in desperate need of the peace and rest that only exists in Him.
Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.