Theatre shootings.

Job loss.

Infertility.

Breakups.

Life is messy. Life is chaotic.

But, where does all this chaos come from? Is it all God’s will? Is everything as God intends? Was it God’s plan that you have that miscarriage? Is God causing your teenage daughter to rebel just to bring some higher good out of it? Did God intend for you to be hurt the way you were when you were younger? Is God causing this pain? Is God allowing it? Are those the same thing? Or is there something else going on?

Scripture makes it clear that God loves us (John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, He gave his only Son”). The Bible says that God is good (Ps. 25:8, “Good and upright is the LORD” & Mk. 10:18, “No one is good buy God alone.”). So why do I experience chaos?

To answer this question we must first establish one thing that God’s radical love requires – risk. True, authentic, never-ending, always-and-forever love; the kind of love God has for you requires that you might reject it. If God’s love required that you love him in return, it wouldn’t be love it would be coercion. His love requires risk.

Which means that God’s good creation (Genesis 1:31) didn’t require that actual evil exist, but it did require that the possibility of evil exist. Otherwise God’s love isn’t love at all, it’s manipulation.

So why are you subject to all kinds of chaos? Because God’s will isn’t the only will at work in the world. There is the will of the Enemy (you know, Satan, the Devil, skinny guy with the pitchfork). And there is your will (yes, you).

The Enemy is trying to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10) in order to thwart God’s will in the world. If the Enemy can set disease loose in the world and then your Dad gets cancer and dies too early, you might react by asking some serious questions about God and have your faith frustrated. Score one for the Enemy. If he can get a bunch of your fellow students to tag you with a reputation that destroys your character and gets you thinking, “How could God do this to me?” than his will is being accomplished, not God’s.

The Enemy is scouring around your life trying to find ways to steal your joy, kill your faith, and destroy your hope. Sometimes he does this directly by attacking you with frustration, disappointment, doubt, temptation, or one of his many other tactics. Other times he does it passively. If he can just let brokenness run rampant in the world than it won’t be long before you’ll be questioning the goodness of God.

While he is active in the world, we must realize he is a defeated Enemy through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus! He has already lost, he’s just trying to do damage in your life. When I was in Jr. High my football team sucked (and so did I – at least at football). When we knew we were losing a game and there was no hope of winning, (I shouldn’t admit this) our goal was to hurt the other team. Spear the quarterback. Step on the running back’s ankle. Titty-twist the lineman (don’t act like I’m the only one). If we couldn’t win at least we could leave them injured. That’s how the Enemy is. He has already lost. He’s just trying to titty-twist your faith and get you to believe a lie.

Which leads me to the second cause of chaos. You. Me. Your boyfriend. Your parents. Your classmates that came in your school and started shooting. Your co-workers who spread that lie about you. That dude that stole your computer the first week of college.

You and I can choose to work against God’s will and intention (remember, His great love requires it). You can make choices that aren’t in line with God’s will. Like having sex with your girlfriend. She turns up pregnant and drops out of school. You tryto finish school, but have to get a night job to support your kid (cause you’re trying to do the right thing) which means your tired all the time. Being tired makes you irritable so now your relationship with your girlfriend is falling apart. Last night she screamed, “I hate you.” and now you don’t know what to do. Chaos.

Or the fact that you are ignoring God’s call to Sabbath and working 90 hours a week. Sure, you’re doing it to support your family because you love them, but while you’re at work “loving them” they are at home missing you. Your wife is tired because she has the kids all the time and you aren’t there to help. You’re tired because you are working all the time. Both of you need to be refreshed. Your idea of being refreshed is to come home and have sex. Her idea of being refreshed is talking and going on vacation. Now your marriage is falling apart. Chaos.

It was your doing. It was your choice to work against God’s will and intention for your life. His commands aren’t there to bind you. They are there to free you.

Ready for some good news? Me too. Whether it’s the Enemy’s doing or yours (or mine), it doesn’t change God’s heart to redeem your chaos! Through Christ, God took on all the sin, brokenness and chaos of the world so that the world might be reconciled to him. He wants to clean up your mess! God isn’t behind the evil trying to teach you a secret lesson, God is seeking to redeem chaos. He’s planting gardens out of our ashes. He painting pictures from our mess. He’s making a feast out of our scraps. He is giving hope and peace as you walk through the muddy waters.

Chaos come from the Enemy and the times we don’t align our actions with God’s will, but God is always there seeking to redeem the chaos. When you realize that, you can worship through the chaos. So start singing his praise.