I'm a person of order. This is something friends and family know about me. With that, I'm also very plan-oriented and very thoughtful about moving forward with differing events. Is disorder a pet peeve of mine? No, not necessarily. However, when someone makes plans and has to cance/shift them around last minute, then it become annoying to me.
Why do I mention this? I state this to point out that God has a genuinely dad-like sense of humor! In my line of education, it's very common to go in to the workforce with relative ease and fall in line with a lifestyle that is very orderly and structured. Instead, God would take me on something more "interesting." The mission's world is full of variance. For the better, really. Lack of personal order can mean room for God's order to take the grander stage throughout the day-to-day. With this comes a reality: people need to not be in control for God to be in control. I restate this because: 1, it's easier said than done and 2, I point one finger at the world and nine back at myself; many times I struggle with letting God take center stage when things need to get done.
I could talk about many things in this season of life in the mission's field. Partnership campaigning has been a very joy-filled and faith-enriching season for me, but not without its struggles. As I sit back and realize that I catch a flight to Germany exactly two months from today, and look at all that needs to be done, I have the temptation to freak out. To anyone who has ever had to trust in God for something greater than themselves knows where I'm at. This is not an unusual topic, but I wanted to get back at this idea of "God's Grander Order" because there is a beauty in this that needs to be restated.
God's Grander Order is great because:
1: We are not in charge of our own destiny. The outcome has already been decided for us. Our position (something I keep reminding myself) is to walk through to the end and see what God's intended outcome really is.
2: We have the freedom to enjoy life at the present. I remember some of the writings of C.S. Lewis, and how God regards time, in Screwtape Letters. (This is, after all, completely a sidenote.) According to the book, God only ever really takes heed of two things: the present, and eternity. When you really think about it, Heaven is the place where eternity and present overlap. Therefore, to really consider what God considers important only ever was the present. The Book of Matthew points this out by saying to only worry about today's troubles.
3: God's perspective is larger than our own. There are things we are doing that we might not consider important by our perspectives, but have a much greater reach when seen from God's perspective. When people focus on their own agendas, often times there are opportunities or events that are overlooked. Can God still move in those moments regardless of our own mindset? Absolutely, but how much more pleasant those little moments become when we know God is using them!
For me, it's easy to let the stress of trying be in control distract me from the present. God's still at work even in the craziness of our world. Best to rest in the knowledge and truth that God still makes the world biased towards His Children. Chaos need not be distracting, but instead be encouraged that God is in control.