MAR. 26, 2014
Out
Of Chaos
Read: Exodus
8:1-15
Speak evil of no one, . . . be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility
to all men. —Titus
3:2
Everything I observe
makes me believe this is true: Order is not natural. When I consider my office,
I’m astounded at how quickly it descends into chaos and how long it takes me to
restore order. Order requires intervention; it does not happen naturally.
I shouldn’t be
surprised. God’s role in bringing order out of chaos is a prominent biblical
theme. He did it when He was creating the nation of Israel (Ex. 7–14). When God
said it was time to bring the Hebrew people out of Egypt, Pharaoh objected. His
nation’s economy depended on the Hebrew workers, so Pharaoh didn’t want to lose
them. To change Pharaoh’s mind, God sent 10 plagues to convince him. Pharaoh’s
magicians were able to duplicate the first two plagues. But they could not
reverse the plagues—any of them. They could cause chaos, but they could not
restore order. Only God can do that.
With effort, we can
bring order to our living spaces, but none of us can bring order out of the
emotional and spiritual chaos of our lives. Only God can do that. He restores
order to chaotic situations when we live as God intended—speaking no evil,
being peaceable and gentle, and showing humility to all (Titus 3:2).
Father, our world and
our lives do have much chaos
and confusion. We need
You to restore our souls.
Help us to live as You
want us to live—
loving others.
When we put our
problems in God’s hands, He puts His peace in our hearts.
Insight
The Egyptian magicians
could only mimic three of the miracles of Moses—staffs turned into serpents
(Ex. 7:11), water turned to blood (7:22), and the frog plague (8:7). Unable to
mimic the remaining plagues (8:16–11:10), the magicians acknowledged that they
were from “the finger of God” (8:19).
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
