Peace goes with tidy . . .

Trees are one of my favorite things — to look at, photograph, paint or depict in quilts. When I see a stand or row of them, it is easy to see whether they were planted by humans or by God. God seldom puts anything in measured rows. His tree stands are clumped and seemingly haphazard. But that does not mean God does His work in a random fashion. The Bible says:

God is not a God of confusion but of peace . . . But all things should be done decently and in order. (1 Corinthians 14:33, 40)

This passage is about order in the church, but it is also about God’s way of doing things. The more I study creation, the more I see how orderly it is. Science calls it the order of nature. I see it as the hand of God who is not only orderly but does things as a decorator would with each feature in harmony. Of course sin has messed with His order, but it is still evident.

Because of this reality about God, I’ve wondered about the seeming randomness in the Bible. However, today’s reading has a chart that makes me smile. It shows order in the New Testament Gospels, written by men yet inspired by our orderly God. 

Gospel	Preparation	Public Ministry		Suffering	Triumph
		Opening	Closing
Matthew	1:1–4:16	4:17–16:20	16:21–26:2	26:3–27:66	28:1–20
Mark	1:1–13	1:14–8:30	8:31–13:37	14:1–15:47	16:1–20
Luke	1:1–4:13	4:14–9:21	9:22–21:38	22:1–23:56	24:1–53
John	1:1–34	1:35–6:71	7:1–12:50	13:1–19:42	20:1–21:25

Some days, my home clearly reflects order or disorder in my spiritual life. I’ve noticed that as God teaches me to live more like Jesus lives, my space reflects it. While others joke about a clean desk being a sign of a sick mind indicating obsession or never getting any work done, when I sit down to a mess, I know that I’m not taking care of details as I should. If my home is in disarray, often so is my heart.

The above verse about confusion contrasts disarray to peace yet ties it also to doing things ‘decently and in order’ rather than in a disturbing upheaval. Everyone knows what those days are like!  

That said, my experience is that God is more concerned about the peace in my heart than the condition of my home. He knows that baking cookies, making quilts and stuffing envelopes can be messy, yet at the same time, His peace in those activities has the marvelous ability to keep them from becoming a distressing mess. Not only that, at the end of the activity, that peace also motivates me to put things away and clean up the debris. God is a God of order and in His order, I believe that peace comes first.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, You connect all of life in harmony, just as You do in nature. This is helpful when reading and studying Your Word, but it applies also to ordinary, everyday chores. I must cooperate with You and not let my sinful and disordered self take over and create chaos. Your peace works this way in spiritual ministry as well as the ministry of keeping my home a comfortable place for family and visitors. What a wonderful God You are!