Ever wonder why life can become increasing chaotic and characterized by statements such as, “Things just are not going all that well,” or maybe some variation of same. The simple yet profound answer is that without Someone to stem our descent, we all will descend into the abyss of chaos. Descend deep enough and the chances for escape are slim at best.
As discussed in previous postings, man left alone to his own ends without something to stop this descent will continue ever downward. It may not be obvious to the outsider but deep within it will be so and eventually that which is deep within will become the obvious on the outside. It is so because that which floods the heart will eventually be reflected in and if not stopped then flood the life.
Said another way when man is left devoid of the that which comes from a saving faith in Jesus Christ, Christian fellowship, prayer, studying and living out the Christian Scriptures, and the practice other Christian disciplines, one's life will unravel as it travels the descending road toward deeper chaos. The problem is that most may avoid facing this descent because of the busyness of life. However, in the quiet moments before slipping into the oblivion of sleep, God gives to us those fleeting moments in which we come face to face with our true selves and understand such to be so.
How does one respond? If the physical descent into chaos caused physical pain, we most often will seek some kind of relief. If it interferes with some physical function or another we seek therapeutic intervention of some kind. The same would be true of mental confusion, emotional upset, relational challenges, and other symptoms of this descent not just toward but deeper into chaos—the abyss of chaos.
In pondering these things know that there is another area—a deeper area that underlies all others. Though it is deeper it may present symptoms that manifest in the previously mentioned areas and thus be glossed over. It is the descent of one's spirit into spiritual chaos and eventually spiritual hopelessness. We without saving faith are spiritually broken and too boot, we live in a world of spiritually broken people. So to excuse one’s self because I am no worse than my neighbor is to suggest that it is okay for me to have some physical malady, say cancer because it is not unlike or maybe even less severe than my neighbors.
Said another way, what most people do is to view their chaotic condition by comparing with others who are in the same condition. Per chance they do recognize a problem their tendency is to check their descent by seeking answers from among others who are just as spiritually broken and descending into the same abyss of chaos.
About now some are “shouting” that there must be a better way and there is! It came 2,000 years ago the God-man Jesus came and lived among the chaos of this world among a people who rejected him (see you are not alone) in order to show that there was a way of healing and health--spiritual health. The only known way to “check” the descent is spiritual renewal and that is only as a repentance based faith in Jesus Christ is established and made a priority in one’s life.
Yet mankind in general and most people in particular continue to suffer the ravages of sin. No matter how the sin issue is explained away or avoided, it still remains an issue that requires a genuine spiritual answer. You cannot drug it out, shop it away, avoid it with obsessive-compulsive behavior, drowned it out with activity, overshadow it with church, or satisfy the need with some kind of pseudo-spiritual activity (e.g. eastern religion, yoga, etc.).
What is the answer? What is required to stem this descent into chaos, spiritual and otherwise? It is as already noted, found in establishing and maintaining a growing relationship with Him who is able to put all things right--even those things internal to the individual. When one comes to faith in Jesus Christ, it is incumbent upon that person to set aside time and dedicating that time to Jesus Christ, removing the distractions of life, quiet one's heart to hear the Lord, choosing to be humble and gentle in those moments, and listening intently for the voice of the Lord in the Scriptures and in the deeper places of the heart.
In the course of doing those things we can hear from God, sense conviction for our sinful attitudes which have led then to sinful behaviors, confess those things to the One who knows all, seek His forgiveness through the cross of the Lord, Jesus Christ and in doing so push gently but ever deeper into relationship with the One who gave his all that we might have His all.
Please join with me in this Lenten Season and pursue a deeper walk with the Lord. Remember when we draw near to the Lord, it is not He who moves but we who move our lives ever closer to that which lights our way to Him.
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