Letter 11- May 1, 2010
Dear Sisters,

When there is disorder in a drawer, there is clutter.
When there is disorder in the house, there is chaos.
When there is disorder in the seasons, there is crop failure.
When there is disorder in the chemicals in the brain , there is mental illness
When there is disorder in the systems of the body, there is diabetes, RA, FMS and many others.
When there is disorder in a relationship, there is stress and strife.
When there is disorder in your spiritual life, there is fear, doubt, and deep sorrow.

Disorder can cause dis-ease in many situations.
God is a God of Order….He created Order out of disorder and nothingness.
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

The first job He gave man was responsibility to tend(keep order) in the garden.
Gen 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Our world tells us we need order:
“A place for everything and everything in it’s place” from the 17th century
“things left to themselves tend to disorder” paraphrased 2nd law of thermodynamics
CHAOS (Can’t have anyone over Syndrome) – FlyLady
“God’s in His heaven — all’s right with the world” Robert Browning, Pippa’s Song
Mentally Ill respond to routine and responsibility – Bill Gotherd
Creation Order Genesis 1&2,
Responsibility Order Ex 20
1 Cor 14:33 For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

God’s word tells us to do things in order:
Ps 90:12 So teach [us] to number our days, that we may apply [our] hearts unto wisdom.
Is 28:13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
2 Tim 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Professional Organizers can tell us how to bring order to our homes.
Family Counselors work to bring an order to handling conflicts.
Medical Doctors give us meds to bring some order to our disorders.
And God gives us an order for how we can overcome in the midst of storms of trials and tribulations.
James 1:
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing [this], that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
3 But let patience have [her] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
4 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

1 Pet 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see [him] not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
9 Receiving the end of your faith, [even] the salvation of [your] souls.

The JOY in the trial is that we can choose to be growing. We can rejoice that we are children of our Heavenly King, being prepared for His courts. We are working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. We can acknowledge that the purpose of the trial is not to tear us down, but to build us up like orderly exercise breaks down muscle so that the muscle can be built up stronger! What JOY!

The Exercise Plan for our ordered life:
2 Peter 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence,
add to your faith virtue:
and to virtue knowledge;
6 and to knowledge temperance;
and to temperance patience;
and to patience godliness;
7 and to godliness brotherly kindness;
and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Don’t quit – the rewards are way too wonderful!
Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Phil 3:12-15 press on toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of Christ Jesus!
2 Tim 3:14-17 that the man of God may be perfect…….
Heb 13:21 Make you perfect…..

There are two kinds of pain, and we can choose which one we dwell in.
There is growth pain, which is just a sign that we are growing.
There is death pain, that just shows we are dying.
“Buttercup: You mock my pain.
Man in Black: Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”
–The Princess Bride

You, I, WE CHOOSE what effect that pain has on us!

The order of God’s plan for us is joy and peace, not sorrow and fear.
Fear and sorrow bring disorder to our lives.
If you’ve ever watched the TV program “Hoarding, Buried Alive” on TLC you would notice that people that suffer from this disorder have had a deep wound, sorrow, and are afraid to let go.

Jesus dealt with similar disorder:
Luke 8:27 And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in [any] house, but in the tombs.
28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, [thou] Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.
29 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)
33 Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.
This man had lived a life of disorder…..and Jesus brought order to his life.

What areas of our lives are in disorder?
Do we really want order in our lives?
God has given us the answer.
Just as the Gadarene Demoniac, we need to cry out to Jesus to deliver us from the natural, base manner in which we deal with things.
Trials – complain and argue or sacrifice in praise
Hurt – anger and revenge or forgive and peace
Fear – tremble and hide or embrace the truth and be set free

2 Tim 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

We have the promises discussed previously….that if we CHOOSE to count it all joy when we enter temptations, trials, and the testing of our faith…..God will bring forth our righteousness as the new day!
Ps 37:5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring [it] to pass.
Ps 37:6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
(Micah 7:9)

God is NOT going to let us irreparably fall!
Ps 37:23 The steps of a [good] man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
24Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth [him with] his hand.
Is 41:10 Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

So, lets make a choice, and start taking steps to push forward towards the prize!
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.
(2 Cor 9:24, Phil 3:14)

I pray that you are encouraged to take a step, even a baby step towards choosing joy. I pray that you are encouraged that your trials can be turned to gold…that your sorrows can be turned to joy, and that your fears can be turned to power, love and a sound mind. God is not a man that He should lie! He has said it, therefore He will do it!(Num 23:19)

In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi

Bible references from http://www.blueletterbible.org
quote everything in it’s place origin from http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/14400.html
quote from FlyLady – http://www.flylady.net/
Bill Gotherd’s response to mental illness – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4gieCr-YRk
Hoarding, Buried Alive – http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/hoarding-buried-alive/
Hoarding definition – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsive_hoarding
Princess Bride quote – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/quotes

©2010 M.C.Wildman