God’s Path In The Midst Of Chaos
Ups and downs; I used to see life as a path composed of ups and downs. I would seriously persevere through the lows and viciously work for the highs. I thought I was living the life; always attempting to climb higher while simultaneously avoiding those pesky, dark valleys.
But after a time I realized something:
I wasn’t actually going anywhere.
I was pursuing my goals & aspirations in order to better my own self, yet no amount of striving seemed to allow space for real fulfillment or lasting joy. My life felt like a perpetual up-and-down battle for control. One moment I was on top of the world and the next moment in its deepest hole.
God. I could understand God caring about Nelson Mandela or Mother Teresa or my neighbor who baked cookies for the homeless every Thursday night,
but God caring about someone like me seemed highly unlikely.
Two simple and simultaneously humbling truths forever changed my life:
(1) God cares for us even when we want nothing to do with Him.
(2) God’s grace is more than enough for our ups and downs.
The distress I was experiencing seemed to stem from my closed-off, made-up perspective; from looking at life from the wrong angle and following a personal path doomed for destruction, defined by a lack of forgiveness and an inability to enjoy life.
So I rotated the chart 90 degrees on its x-axis, and what I found was a straight line through the heart of life’s chaos; a path to follow that was graciously consistent regardless of external circumstances. Was my life suddenly free of ups and downs? Definitely not! But the ups and downs no longer had control; they no longer defined my path.
And the path, as it turns out, is quite important, indeed.
