Do You Thrive
in Chaos?
Many years ago, when my son was in preschool, I chatted with another mother at our church nursery. Two of her kids were running in circles around her, and she was carrying her toddler on her hip. She did not have a diaper bag with her. The toddler was missing a shoe, and the mother said she might have left that one shoe at home…
In spite of the chaos around her, my friend looked calm and peaceful. Like she was in the eye of a hurricane, you know? And all her kids survived to adulthood. God provided!
“For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints” (I Corinthians 14:33, KJV).
The word chaos first appeared in the fifteenth century out of the Greek word khaos by way of Latin and French. My dictionary says chaos means “complete disorder and confusion.”
The world might be chaotic around us. Our lives might also be chaotic. But Christ in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27), keeps us from total confusion!
Is there chaos in your writing life?
When I was thirty years old, I prayed about what I would like to do for the rest my life, and it was clear to me that I should fulfill my life-long goal of being a full-time writer. However, shortly after I made the decision to leave my IT career for a writing career, God gave us a child, and I finally became a mother after many childless years. God blessed us with a super busy life all the way from the diaper stage through many years of homeschool and then college life.
As an empty nester now, I assumed I would be free to write all day long and I could spend the rest of my life writing all the books that I have planned for decades.
Not so fast!
Ever since my son finished high school, I have been beset by health problems. After his senior trip overseas, I fell sick for the rest of the year and into the next year, which derailed my plans to write many books. When I recovered from those bouts of recurring colds, I was diagnosed with heart issues.
After God provided a cardiologist for me, the COVID virus pandemic swept the world, shutting down most of the USA, and thus our normal life. My son’s college campus closed, and he was home for online school. To go out or not to go out? To mask or not to mask? So many questions with few answers.
And now my husband has heart problems too. Seriously?
On top of all that, in the middle of the pandemic, I was also diagnosed with a frozen shoulder. Frozen what? I had never heard of such a thing. It was new medical terminology for me. My orthopedic specialist said it could take one to two years to thaw it out. I ended up in physical therapy twice a week and will be in it for the rest of this year and probably next year. I hate to admit that I cried at PT—even as I wondered if those painful sessions could be written off as book research. Hmm…
I never expected to semi-retire into an empty nest full of health problems. It was one thing after another, not to mention all the other events that happened in the family, including an aunt passing away in the middle of COVID season. Social distancing prevented us from attending her funeral as well as preventing me from visiting my widowed mother in fragile health.
Chaos after chaos. And yet…
How is God’s Word true for you in a chaotic world?
I am thankful that God is always faithful. God never changes. He is always the same (Hebrews 13:8). The Lord is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13). He is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39, KJV).
At the end of the day, if Christ shines through the chaos of life, then regardless of what happens, I am where I need to be: in the palm of His hand. After all, He who began a good work in us will also complete it (Philippians 1:6).
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6, KJV).
Do you live in a chaotic world? How does His perfect will prevail for you in your times of chaos?
May God always keep us safe in His care!
Joyfully in Jesus,
Jan Thompson
The world might be chaotic around us. Our lives might also be chaotic. But Christ in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27), keeps us from total confusion! #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters via @ThompsonAuthor
Do you live in a chaotic world? How does His perfect will prevail for you in your times of chaos? #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters via @ThompsonAuthor
The Savannah Sweethearts Christian beach romance collection features eleven couples in a multiethnic Christian community in the coastal city of Savannah, Georgia, and its adjacent beach town of Tybee Island on the Atlantic Ocean. Against a backdrop of sand, sea, and sun, this mix of clean and wholesome novels and long novellas showcases various aspects of the human need for God and for one another. Have some tea, settle in a comfortable reading chair, and enjoy these sweet celebrations of faith, hope, and love in Jesus Christ.
The Savannah Sweethearts series is complete. You can begin reading Know You More (Book 1) or you can read the first 3 books (including the prequel, Ask You Later) in a boxed set. All the books in this series are available for purchase on Amazon or to rent/borrow via Kindle Unlimited.
You can find the entire series here (without prequel): JanThompson.com/savannah-amazon
You can find the first 3 books (with prequel) in a bundle here: JanThompson.com/markers-amazon
USA Today bestselling author Jan Thompson writes clean and wholesome multiethnic contemporary Christian romance with flavors of women’s fiction, Christian romantic suspense with elements of mystery, and inspirational international thrillers with threads of sweet Christian romance. Her books are for readers who love inspiring stories of faith, family, and friends.
Connect with Jan and learn more here:
Website: JanThompson.com
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