Lost in Chaos?

Seems like everywhere I turn lately I hear another momma talking about how crazy the kids are acting.  Bickering, picking at one another, mouthing off to each other...and mom and dad are having to referee constantly...or kiddos are disrespecting mom and dad. 

Maybe for you it's not your kids but your spouse or your roommate, extended family or coworkers.

What is going on?

C'mon...it's supposed to be the season of thankfulness so why so much conflict and chaos?


The book of James tells us that the basis of all quarrels is selfishness.  I try to remind my sons of this every single time there is a dispute.  Always, when we talk it out, the root is someone's selfishness. 

I spent a great portion of my life being selfish.  The only cure I have found for it is a true relationship with Jesus.  I know many people think that is just a bunch of fluff...a hope people hang onto so that they can feel better. 

I certainly don't know the words to convince any doubters that is not the case, but on the chance anything I can say will help someone else, I continue to speak up. 

I've lived life both ways...with Jesus as my focus and without.  Hands-down, for me, with Jesus wins!

I really try not to care what anyone thinks anymore.  I know what I have experienced.  I know He is real and really speaks.  He really cares about everything in my life.  He is ever-present, and He doesn't want my life or home or family to be chaotic.

I certainly don't have all the answers, but I have found several of them.  No one can argue this with me because I am living proof!

How did we get here?

My husband and I looked at the overwhelming evidence of the reality of the man named Jesus...that He indeed was crucified and raised back to life.  People believe so many less credible things than this it's hilarious!  We have come to believe that it takes much more faith to NOT believe in Jesus than TO believe in Him!

At the end of the day, after you have researched your brains out, you finally have to make a choice to believe or not believe what you cannot completely see with your eyes or your mind.  We chose to believe.  We have been changed in amazing ways.

Our choice was to fear the Lord.  I don't mean we chose to be afraid of Him, but rather we chose to honor Him and His Word above all.

Psalm 128:1 says, "BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, to be envied) is everyone who fears, reveres, and worships the Lord, who walks in His ways and lives according to His commandments.^" 

Tom and I experience this blessing every single day.  I don't mean that we don't have troubles.  We aren't close to perfect and neither are our children.  Our blessing comes in how we act and react when those inevitable troubles come.

I get sad.  I get angry.  I doubt.  I sin. 

But somehow, no matter how bad things get, I feel the gentle love and reminding that I am not alone.  I think we lose our peace when we lose our focus.  Maybe we are spread too thin or everything that can go wrong is going wrong!  Whatever the circumstances, I have found that when I am frustrated and feel like I am losing it, my focus has fallen from Him to me.

Isaiah 26:3 says, "You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You."

Can you even fathom perfect and constant peace? Oh, how I long for it!  I sure have tasted of it for good, long periods of time in my life, but constantly...wow, that would be sweet!

God wouldn't have allowed that to be written in the Word if it wasn't possible.  The reward comes with a requirement however: our minds MUST be stayed (fixed) on Him; we must commit ourselves to Him, lean on Him, and hope CONFIDENTLY in Him.

How often I find myself hoping in my abilities...my work to discipline my kids; my work to fix my finances; my trying to hold my tongue and not blow my top!  Me, me, me...

I am reminded today to take my thoughts hostage and turn them back to Him.  It takes diligence and purpose to capture the lies our minds run with and replace them with God's truth.  It's a vital step in maintaining victory.

Maybe we can't make everyone around us peaceful.  Maybe we can't fix our environment, but we can change what goes on inside of us.  That is a gift we too often forfeit and sadly it is because of our selfishness.

Perhaps the most mysterious thing is how, when we do give up ourselves and become more peaceful, it DOES affect our environment and those around us.  It's really hard for someone to fight with someone who won't fight back!