Walking In The Midst Of The Chaos

“come and let’s walk in the LORD’s light.” – Isaiah 2.5, CSB

Do you feel it? The pressure keeps building. As it does, things unravel, and chaos ensues. And the problem is that we will actually sit with a screen in our hands or on our desks to either entertain ourselves with it or be enraged by it, all the while not admitting that we are addicted to it. We get swept away by the current of chaos and culture, believing the narrative of hopelessness and pointing fingers at “them” because they caused it all. One tragedy after another tragedy. One slice of gossip. Another story of oppression. Nation against nation. Kingdom against kingdom. Neighbors failing to be neighborly in even the slightest way. Life begins to feel like a blur, and we find ourselves unable to focus on anything of actual value. We speed up at the unmanageable pace of life to keep up with it, leaving us only feeling exhausted and empty. 

Until we decide to walk.

Instead of settling into the chaos of existence, only to be swept away by it, we learn to walk with the Lord at the Lord’s pace of abundant life. As things spiral out of control, we walk with the Lord, our sovereign anchor. As our world continues to run away from the Lord, we stand on the solid foundation of Jesus, the reliable and sure capstone of our faith. We accept this invitation together: “Come let’s go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about his ways so that we may walk in his paths” (Isaiah 2.3, CSB, emphasis added). We will trust and obey. We will pray and rest. We will flee from worshiping “worthless idols” (Isaiah 2.8,18,20), passionately and peacefully worship the Lord in the chaos, and be God’s agents of hope to the hopeless. We will be different because God’s ways are different. And we will hear God’s encouragement that he will take care of us. “Tell the righteous that it will go well for them, for they will eat the fruit of their labor” (Isaiah 3.10, CSB). Therefore, amid the chaos around us, we can be stop fighting and know that he is God (Psalm 46.10). And because of that, we can have peace.

So let’s learn to slow down, breathe, and walk with Jesus. Let’s slow down and focus our gaze upon him. Chaos will continue, and life will continue to unravel around us. But let’s still decide to fix our attention on him. It doesn’t mean that we ignore all that is going on around us. Not in the least. But we set our eyes and fix our gaze on Jesus, who keeps us from being overwhelmed and overcome by it all. And as he does, we move forward with him into the chaos to introduce others to him.