The peace and safety of a well-ordered life are naturally desired. We cannot thrive in a completely chaotic life. But chaos has its place, as it’s through chaos that we’re forged into our better.
To be sure, since childhood we’ve grown and matured by encountering the unknown. Our insatiable curiosity drove us from the safety of our parents’ arms and compelled us to explore this mysterious world around us. And it was through this experience with the unfamiliar that we learned and expanded our capacity to navigate life – deepening our sense of self, our limitations and our power to make things happen.
And in big and small ways this is a pattern that continues throughout our life and relationships.
For instance, graduation sends us into a season of chaos until we start to find our footing with our new adult roles and responsibilities.
Marriage also starts off very chaotic. While the honeymoon phase might give us the courage to endure this disruption, it still takes a while to learn our new selves and our dance together.
Changing jobs, tackling new home repairs, and building our village all require the same. As do the challenges to our inner world through being exposed to new thoughts, ideas, and worldviews.
Time and again, there are many moments throughout life in which the unknown breaks through our walls of familiarity and forces us to deal with it.
And while it might be tempting to retreat back into the safety of the status quo, we rob ourselves of our potential to grow when we do – our chance to expand ourselves and advance our kingdom.
It’s in wrestling through the chaos that our understanding increases, our strength is forged, and our capacity to bring more life and goodness into the world is magnified.
Of course, this doesn’t mean we just allow life to be chaotic. Maturity calls us to bring order to the chaos. And this means we cannot run from the chaos when it arrives.
Allow yourself to be undone through the chaos of your life as a new man is forged – emerging with greater strength and ability to bring more goodness into the world.
Photo by Hannah Gibbs on Unsplash
