What do you mean the blessing is in the chaos?

A few months back, my husband and I were having some construction-type work done to our home and someone had to be there to give the contractors access to the house.  I'll never forget this.  It was a Monday and my husband was in a class that entire week, which means I had to be home.  Originally, it was only supposed to be a day.  Then the one day morphed into two days and two days turned into a third day.  I didn't complain one bit, because as far as I was concerned this would be an opportunity for me to get some writing done.  The kids were at school and with my husband being in class, I had the house all to myself.  I remember thinking, this is great, just what I needed…uninterrupted time to get at least two more chapters of my book done. 

 

Three days to sit at home and write.  Life was good.  Or so I thought.  Guess what?  I got a case of “Writer’s Block”.  The writing flow I'd come accustomed to simply wouldn't come. 

 

I remember putting my laptop away and being frustrated that three days had gone by and I'd gotten absolutely nothing accomplished.  Within the next hour or so, I heard my door bell chime and heard the first of a series of arguments among my children.

 

            “Mom, he's making fun of me.”  One child shouted.

 

            “No, she started it.”  The next child countered back.

 

            “Mom, I need lunch money for tomorrow.”  Another child chimed in.

 

            “Hey, when are we going to buy new phones?”  My husband added.

 

On and on.

 

With my computer put away, I decided it was a good time to get some things done around the house – dinner, homework, the typical evening stuff.  I remember praying to God that He would cure my “Writer’s Block” by the time we got the kids fed, showered, and settled in bed. 

 

God spoke to my heart and said, “Sit down and write.” 

 

I obeyed and as I begin to work on the third or fourth re-write of a tough scene, it was as if I could hear Him saying to me, “Your greatest blessings are in the chaos.”  For me, in that moment, I translated that to mean my greatest chapters will be written in spite of and in the midst of all the chaos around me.  Not when I’m at home and it’s nice and quiet.  And it seems like the perfect time to write.

 

I sat there and wrote the next two chapters, while it was noisy.  The kids hadn’t gone to bed just yet and continued to nag at each other, carrying on.  My husband had the television volume turned up to the max.  And right there in the midst of it all, I wrote two of my best chapters.  I don't believe this is necessarily the path for all writers, but this was the path God had chosen for me at that moment.

 

Here’s my point:

 

I’ll be the first to admit, I often tense up and fail to relax in His arms.  There have been times I've been determined (to the extreme) to find ways to work around the chaos.  And all the while, my blessing was staring me right there in my face…in the fire…under uncomfortable circumstances. 

 

I've struggled for years with this, but I am learning that my job is to rest in the peace of knowing God is faithful and trustworthy and that He will never fail me.  As a matter of fact, He wants to show up in the noise…in the mess…in the chaos.

 

Scriptures:  Proverbs 3:5-6  (NIV)

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight

 

Now your turn:

 

Can anyone attest to this?  How has God shown up in the middle of the chaos in your life?  Feel free to comment and share.  Or you don’t have to comment.  That’s totally fine too.  Maybe you know someone (a friend or relative…maybe a co-worker) who can benefit from this blog post.  Feel free to share.

 

Blessings,

T.K. Farmer

 

Copyright 2015

 

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