The chaos and confusion of this world seem to bely the truth that God is a God of order and peace. Dark shadows filled with questioning fears and hearts that stream with tears give pause to the thought that God wants to bring fullness of joy to our lives.
There is an age old struggle between pain and heartache and the goodness of God. Questions of ‘why’ fill our hearts as we strain to see our way through the dark of heart-rending situations in our lives. The only way to make it through is to recognize that this life must be lived with a staunch belief that God is who he says he is even when our eyes are blinded by tears.
A Defining Purpose
Before the beginning of time there was God. The prophet, Isaiah reaches back to the dawn of time as he states that God is the Creator of the universe. He assures us that God did not create the world to be uninhabited, nor was earth created in vain. (Isaiah 45:18) In the English language today ‘in vain’ means without success or a result.
However, the Hebrew word that was translated ‘in vain’ is tohu. This word, according to Strong’s Concordance means formlessness, confusion, emptiness, wasteland, wilderness and a place of chaos. In other words, Isaiah is telling us that God did not create this earth for chaos and confusion. Yet, in Genesis 2:2, this same Hebrew word, tohu is used to define the earth.
This definition came into play before God had an encounter with the darkness and chaos. However, God brought light to the darkness and order to the chaos. Furthermore, God continued to create and bring unsurpassed beauty and teeming life to the place that had once been branded as without form and void. [tohu]. A place of chaos.
From the beginning of time, God had a purpose for the earth. It was not to be a place of confusion and darkness. God created it to be inhabited by the people of his heart. A people created in the image of himself. We were created for relationship and community with him.
Redeemed from a World of Chaos
We all know how sin tipped God’s perfectly ordered world back into the chaos and confusion that we still deal with today. Yet, God’s purpose did not go unheeded. With divine design, he governed a way for humanity to come back to Himself. It was not just to an obscure town that redemption came, but Jesus came with the proclamation of angels that peace could be found for all men.
It would be a peace and redemption that was bought through the darkness of the cross. God’s purpose is still to bring light to our darkness, order to our chaos and peace to our confusion.
Isaiah reframes that Hebrew word ‘tohu‘ in the following verse.
“I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak in righteousness, I declare things that are right.”
Isaiah 45:19
Here God is reassuring us that our heart and soul was not made for chaos and confusion. God has NOT said that seeking him would be in vain, nor will it come up empty, chaotic and confused. By implication, this means that when we seek God with all our heart, he will be found of us. ( Jeremiah 29:13) When we come to God in the confusion and chaos of our life, we can know that it will not stay that way.
Purposeful Reassurance
God has made you to be inhabited with himself. He purposes to create beauty out of the broken pieces and chaotic confusion of your life. He has spoken what is true and right. God has not hidden himself in obscurity to be sought after with a relentless and fruitless search. Instead God reveals his love for you through the Word made flesh. God Himself came down to this chaotic world to be with you.
Furthermore, Jesus comes to reassure you that in believing you might have life through his name. (John 20:31) His purpose is to bring redemption to each person in this world of sin and chaos.
Breaking Hearts and Bold Promises
All of what the heart and soul needs to know to move forward is given by God. He has not given his promises to only an obscure few, but God has flung them out in bold declaration. Tears will fall, and hearts will break.
However, in the crying and the breaking Jesus beckons us to draw near and trust the Father’s heart. In the heartache, you will find him faithful. Through the tears you will see that God is enough. God wants to face the chaos of life with you. And in the ensuing encounter bring you peace.
Even when we believe that ‘all things’ are ‘for good’ we will not always be able to understand how it all will come out right. When stumbling blocks of pain barricade our pathway and it feels like unnecessary darkness has entered our life we weep. Yet, in the darkness remember that God has not created you for chaos and confusion, but for peace and beauty. Hold on to the truth that God speaks. As we travel through the hard, we learn to know God deeper, find his strength stronger and his purpose better.
Seek God’s Heart
With the darkness, emptiness and chaos, comes the promise that God will inhabit your darkness and bring light and beauty to the surrendered pieces of your brokenness. There is no pain without purpose in God’s economy. Furthermore, there is no chaos that God cannot order, nor is there confusion so deep that he cannot give peace or an emptiness he cannot fill.
Cling to the Creator. Let your encounter with chaos bring you close to the heart of God. He purposes to remake you into his image. Seek Him. You will be found. He will enfold you close. You are not alone. It is only in Him that you will find comfort when the pain comes and the tears fall like rain.
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