Combating the Chaos

Chaos is how I live my life. No, I don’t have children or a husband…if I did, I’m sure my life would be EVEN MORE chaotic…so everyone who is busy with life and has a family – you are my heroes!!!  You are rock stars for sure.

Chaos is comfortable to me.  I don’t like to be still or not have 5 different things going on at once.  It just seems strange to me to have nothing going on.  I believe that there are many women and some men who have this same issue of being sooo busy.  We love the controlled chaos of life.  But it can become too much abs if we allow it, it can become uncontrolled chaos – which happens more times than I’d like to admit.

When these uncontrolled chaos moments happen, I often feel overwhelmed and like I no longer have control over my life.  I have a feeling that you, dear reader, have experienced this from time to time too.  Especially if you are a stubborn control freak like me (ha!).

It’s in these moments of my life I feel like an ultimate failure because I cannot juggle it all and be successful.  And, it seems, I spiral right out of control into a “I’m not going to do anything with my life” conversation inside my head.  Can you tell I tend to be a little overdramatic?  The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?

Psalm 23:1-3 reads “The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.  He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.  He renews my strength.  He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.”  This is one of my go to scriptures when I feel incomplete because it reminds me that, in God, I have all that I need.

When I become overwhelmed with life and my “to-do” list, I remember this scripture and

  • The need to stop and breathe

Rest – rest in the knowledge that God is all you ever need.  How often we try to figure things out when it isn’t meant for us to know everything?  Sometimes we have to stop, breathe and remember that God has it all worked out.  He has the control and has our best interest at heart.  Rest in the fact that, if we cannot do everything we think we are supposed to do – God is ever faithful and will be there when we drop the ball – even on the small things in life.

  • Social Media Snocial Media

It’s great to connect with people from every area of your life.  We get to see our friends’ children grow up, stay in contact with family who live too far to see consistently and stay up with the current events all through your preferred form of Social Media.  Too often, though, we find that it takes our peace.  Someone doesn’t like our status, another person posts a nasty comment that you think is about you, and another person posts their opinion that doesn’t match yours which leads you to get upset.  Sometimes, we need to step way, check our thinking, and realize that this medium is not the proper way to form relationships.  Step away, make face to face connections and keep Facebook, instragram, or twitter as something fun rather than stressful.

  • Make sure you show love to those who God has put in your life

Too many times in our crazy busy world we just zoom through life trying to achieve things when we are supposed to be sharing life with others.  We were created to be in community, but all too often we make life about what we checked off our to do list rather than whose life we touched.  Take moments out of your week to spend with people and show them that they matter to you.

  • Don’t worry about every little thing in life

Life is messy and that is okay.  Learn to laugh at the things that go wrong rather than worry about them.  Because, at the end of the day, getting worked up about something small that went wrong didn’t make it any better.  Don’t sweat the small things.  Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, realize what you did wrong and move on.  If you chuckle along the way because you looked a little silly then that is even better!

  • Spend time with God

Out of all of these points, this is probably the most important because we find our peace, rest and refreshment from spending time with God.   Psalm 42:1 “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.”  We need time with God like we need water, food and air.  It is essential to our survival.  Make sure that you take time to be still with God and hear His voice.  It’s important that we tell God our requests and it is equally important that we allow God to speak into us.  I have personally found the more I allow God to pour into me, the more I am able to combat the chaos that life can throw at me.

The more I rely on God to lead me through life, the more I realize that the busyness of life isn’t all that it is cracked up to be.  One of my goals going forward to is to be more present in the now and spend more time showing people that they matter.  When I die – many, many years from now – I don’t want people to say that I got a lot of things done, but that I made them feel important.  In the end, that is what matters.

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Pressing Reset

Being a Christian does not automatically cause you to stop sinning. Nope…I am a sinner in need of a Savior every day.  Being a Christian also doesn’t keep you from experiencing tough times.  Nope…we go through them like every other human on the Earth.  The difference, though, resides in who we turn to when in those trials.

Here is a major battle I fight often: I feel so inadequate and unworthy at times. I feel very much like I am worthless…like the promises God has placed on my life are not real.  Oh, but those are just lies.  They are lies from the enemy who wants me to cower and not fulfill my life’s purpose; to keep me believing that I am weak and no different than I’ve ever been.

What about you? What are the lies the enemy tells you?  What self-talk do you struggle with?

The greatest way to counter those lies is the word of God. The truth in the Bible is everlasting.  It will not die!

Here are a few truths I consistently remind myself of:

God loves you and me: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

You and I are made new: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

He knew us before He formed us: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

Through Christ, we are made strong: “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)

Believers have been given eternal life: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

We have been bought with a high price: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Peter 1:18-19)

Replacing the lies of the enemy – whatever those lies may be – with the word of God will keep your mind on track. Keeping your thoughts on track will help you stay your course and finish the race set before us.  Don’t ever give up!

There are times, though, where I find myself in a place that I am unsure what are lies and what aren’t. It get confusing because life gets busy, I don’t spend time with God like I should, or I’m just stuck in a mindset that is unhealthy…I will have to pray this simple prayer from Psalm 139:23-24:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

I encourage you to start spending time with God every day. Pray the prayer from Psalm 139,  Feed your mind with the word of God so when the enemy lies, you can remind yourself what God says about you.

Be blessed, readers.

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Shift, shift

Have you ever felt like things just keep going wrong? No matter what you do, you just can’t get it right.  So many believe that this is an attack – and it very well may be – but I also believe that God will do this in our lives when He is ready for something else to come in.  He must make room.  As a new year approaches, I believe that He is getting a lot of His people ready for new things.  If you are going through a situation like this – I encourage you to take some time and seek God;s face.  Let Him show you what your current season means.  I truly believe that we are going to start seeing a great shift in Christ’s people.

The following scripture was above the main stairwell at my University.  It always remained above our heads, covering us.  Let it cover you today.

For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for well-being and not for trouble, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Be Blessed

Shift