I recently read the Creation account in Genesis and saw afresh how God created order out of chaos and, ever since the fall, we have made chaos out of God’s order. The state of unrest and confusion we live in was never God’s design for us. How I long for His coming to end our pushing and pulling, grabbing and greed, fighting and failure. And yet… in the midst of our disorder, we have the assurance that God is still in control, that He has us covered whether or not we see His hand or understand His ways. Let these verses from Psalm 33 encourage you (emphasis mine):
Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.
For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.The Lord foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations…From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind;
from His dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—
He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do…But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.
We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.
We beseech God to foil Russia’s plans and thwart Putin’s purposes. We ask Him to deliver the Ukrainians from death and keep them alive in famine. We intercede for our loved ones and covet God’s grace and protection. We wait in hope for the Lord and continue to pray about the chaos in our world, in our nation, in families, in suffering bodies. We long for a return to relative order until the time Jesus will rule the new world in peace and justice.
Until that time, like the psalmist, we will trust in His name and unfailing love.
“May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you” (verse 22).
BARBARA HIGBY 