When the Creator of stars, stallions, and sunsets offers to reveal marvelous, great, unsearchable, and remarkable things to us (see Jeremiah 33:3), this generosity should set our hearts racing. Our human limits no longer matter. The previously impossible is more than possible with God.

God’s offer to grant wisdom beyond our own understanding appears to be based on our desire to pursue life with him.

We often view chaos as an impersonal force that plays out with the same generic implications for anyone in its path. Natural disasters, recessions, and viruses impact millions at once. And these things certainly have an impact on you.

I tend to call out to God only after I’ve exhausted every effort trying to overcome my own icebergs. Not a smart strategy. Kind of like driving through the car wash with my window down.

I want to give you some timely encouragement for what you’re facing at this very moment.

God sees you and he’s for you in the midst of your current battle against chaos.

Mythically speaking, this world is like a sea filled with looming dragons and icebergs. We’d be fools to count on smooth sailing. Some of the icebergs will shake us. Some monsters will stalk us. Our vessel will suffer some damage. Anyone who says otherwise is either clueless or selling false assurances.

Imagine you’re on a ship and the captain suddenly announces, “We’re about to hit an iceberg!” That’s accurate information, but it stirs panic rather than hope.

I found myself wondering why God didn’t give us more advance warning about the chaos that was coming at us. I mean, if only he had, things would be so much better.

My daughter was having a really hard day. She wasn’t in a good mood. I came downstairs while she and my wife were having one of those kitchen conversations that was heading toward a disagreement before escalating into an argument. I caught enough of the back-and-forth to know what the issue was. And I found the swirling chaos around them wanting to snag me as well.

A while back, my wife pointed out something no one wants to hear. She was incredibly kind, but her words packed a punch. “Allen, you’re fine when things are calm. But you don’t do so well when chaos hits.”

Ouch.

How does it look to let chaos in? It usually begins with unhelpful self-talk. We let toxic thoughts enter in. Then we nurture them by repeating them and living as if they’re true.

Whatever the storm is—it begins outside of you. But it doesn’t want to stay outside. It’s looking to get in. Into your head. Into your heart.

Why do we keep doing what isn’t working?

For me, my exercise in futility started with a faulty assumption. I woke each day expecting everything to go as it should. The storm always caught me off guard. Rather than being ready for it, I was on the defensive. And found myself responding in the typical unhelpful ways.

Chaos comes at our creativity in a unique way. I believe that’s because the enemy, as a consequence of his rebellion against God, forever lost his ability to create. Now, he is an agent of de-creation. And this often involves him throwing chaos at those who co-create with God.

God loves it when we seek after him and his ways.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV)

One of the first casualties when things get chaotic is our creativity. It’s hard to justify the time to create something meaningful in the best of times—but exponentially harder  in an atmosphere of fear and panic. In such moments, it can feel self-indulgent or simply irrelevant.

Before we go further, let’s define what we mean by chaos.

Dictionary.com describes it this way: A state of utter confusion or disorder.

Our globe is being shaken harder and harder by the forces of chaos. As it’s shaken, so are we.

We often blame ourselves for the problems and chaos in life. But what if the problem isn’t primarily you? Sure, we all do dumb things and make mistakes. In that sense, we can sabotage our own life. But if there’s more at play, wouldn’t it be helpful to know what that is?

Chaos is invading every area of life. It is relentless. It is unquenchable. It refuses to be contained. It seeks to devour and destroy. To replace order with disorder like a virus trying to infect everyone and everything. But it doesn’t just appear in big, generic ways.