Congratulations to Christina J for winning the drawing for the Red Hot Faith Bible study! Thank you to everyone who entered!
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We’ve started our school routine. Life gets a bit chaotic from here through January for our family. In the midst of the happy-busyness of the school year, my heart is aching for those who are experiencing unhappy chaos. I have friends watching loved ones suffer through serious illnesses, crumbling marriages, and children who are wandering. But in the midst of all the chaos – both the happy and unhappy, we can cling to these 3 promises. Please enjoy this re-post from last January:
Ever had one of those weeks where you can’t finish a thought, a task, or a cup of coffee without getting interrupted by yet another crisis or task? Yeah. It’s been one of those weeks. My husband was out of state most of the week for work. 7 year-old son, T-Rex, fractured his arm and the only time they could get him in for a cast was right after a speaking engagement I had with a local moms group. So T-Rex came with me. One second I was wiping his face and picking grapes off the floor. The next, I was encouraging the women that God can set them free from a life of anxiety and perfectionism. I needed to hear those reminders just as much as anyone did that morning!
All week long, activities bumped into each other and I dashed from one thing to the next. I. Was. Exhausted. This morning alone, I went upstairs to get the sweater I forgot, and saw the curling iron was still on. Then I came back inside for my water bottle, and realized I’d left my phone too. I even forgot to drink coffee until noon!! I just kept thanking God for helping me not burn the house down!
Maybe your week has been like mine? Yet, in the midst of the chaos, we can be calm. Rather than turning to my old habits of anxiety and fear and perfectionism, I’m choosing to cling to God’s promises.
Here are few promises I cling to in the midst of chaos:
Promised Presence
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. – Matthew 28:20b
Right after Jesus gave the disciples the great commission – the command to go into all the big, scary world and tell everyone about Jesus – He promised His presence, always.
I think he knew how much they would need the reminder that they weren’t alone. That when things got chaotic, and they were put in prison, and kicked out of cities, and beaten and bloodied, He was still with them. It’s true for us today too. No matter how rotten the week has been, how many frustrations you’ve faced with kids, co-workers or friends, He’s with you. No matter how many things you’ve forgotten, messed up, or failed, He’s with you. He was with you when you got the discouraging news, when you cried alone in the dark, and when you thought no one saw or cared.
Promised Peace
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. – John 14:27
He promised His presence through the Holy Spirit. He also said the Holy Spirit would remind us of all that Jesus had said, which includes a promise of peace. While I sat in the waiting room, staring at the clock, during Kedron’s cancer surgery, I experienced a calm I’d never felt before. I knew that was a gift from God. It doesn’t mean the problems go away, but no matter what chaos you’re facing, you can know peace.
Promised Power
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. – 2 Corinthians 12:9
As a recovering perfectionist, I love the reminder that Christ’s power is made perfect in our weakness. I don’t need to have it all together, I don’t have to do it all perfectly. In my weakness, in my lacking, when my best attempts fall short, his power can be perfected in me.
We aren’t in this alone! Do you have any promises you cling to during chaos?
Perfect promises for weary hearts 🙂