Life Is Not Chaos

​As I write this post, we are nearing the end of 2020, which by many accounts will go down in history as one of the most tumultuous single years in American history.  With being a very contention election year, Covid19, government lockdowns, mass unemployment, widespread rioting, and mask mandates, nearly one-third of Americans reported struggling from anxiety and depression.  According to the Center for Disease Control, that is nearly the double the number from 2019, and about one-tenth of Americans said they had considered suicide in 2020.  It can be impossible for people to feel at peace when they feel like their life is a leaf being blown around by forces beyond their control.  Times like these is when it is good to be reminded of the words of Stephen in Acts 7 where he gives an amazing sermon summarizing all of Old Testament history and explaining that Jesus is the Messiah and demonstrating that through biblical theology.  Toward the end of that incredible message he says, “Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?  Did not my hand make all these things?’” (vv.48-50).  In other words, God is the one who is completely unaffected by the things that happen in this world.  He is the divine mover.  He is the one who moves but is himself unmoved.  We look at the world around us and it can seem like no one is in control, like we are all at the mercy of chance and circumstance, and it creates an enormous about of frustration.  But God is not frustrated.  God is not in heaven pulling out his hair on his hands and knees pleading with people to do the right thing.  Rather, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, sits upon his throne and he rules with a mighty arm and he is moving all of world history in the direction he desires it to go in.  Heaven is his throne, and the earth is his footstool.  Thus, regardless of what you see happening around you, know that this is not chaos.  This is all a part of God’s perfect plan.