Chaos can come out of nowhere and blindside us before we even know what hit us. Like the time Marilyn and I were supposed to board a plane for Antofagasta, Chile, out of Miami, but we found the airline was on strike. To make things worse, no other airline would accept our tickets because Braniff Airlines would not endorse them for payment. Hundreds of people were in our same dilemma. Their faces revealed that they were bewildered, frustrated, and even angry. I still remember the feeling of helplessness when I realized that we were stuck. Helplessness hardly describes the feeling when you have no answer.
My list of chaotic experiences could go on and on as yours could because life at times is beyond our control. When those undesirable things happen to us, and we cannot stop them, we experience a range of negative emotions. Only when we turned this problem over to God did he help us find a solution. He led us out of our confusion when we trusted him, as he has done scores of times for us.
We experience powerful negative emotions during and after a traumatic event that can cause us intrusive and painful thoughts for a long time. The pain of the event can play in our brain like a looped video. We need someone to help us sort it all out. We long for clarity in life—the ability to make sense out of seemingly meaningless occurrences. Some of our worst memories may have to do with broken relationships because of death, divorce, conflict, or other problems. Sometimes we do not know how to fix broken people, but God does. We need help to sort it all out. One can redeem our broken lives and make sense of the chaos. He is Jesus the Redeemer. Jesus Christ can turn chaos into meaning and purpose. Chaos frequently comes from our sin or the mistakes of others. God, however, specializes in turning chaos into meaning when we ask for his help.
(Parenting with a Long View) https://bovdbrooks.com/
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