Surviving Chaos

How do we survive and even thrive in chaos?

One of the first most important factors is to have a solid foundation and relationship with God. That seems so obvious and basic, yet it is true and needs to be said. We cannot handle the chaos of life without this relationship being at the core of our lives. It is much easier to stand and not be devastated when we are well grounded in our hearts and minds with the King of Kings as our Father. This helps set us up for the next factor...

Trust that God is in control. Nothing can separate us from His love. Nothing is outside His understanding. Nothing is bigger or more powerful than He is. Nothing causes Him to fret, worry, or panic. As such, we can rest fully in that knowledge and find peace in the storms and chaos that may surround us. This is the peace that passes understanding seen in Philippians. My daughters both get scared in storms, except when they are with me. They trust me and if I am calm, so are they. This has taught me about the level of trust we are to have with our heavenly Father. He is completely in control. It is hard to trust God at times because it is admitting our weakness and inadequacy to handle things ourselves. Truth is unaffected by our feelings or bias. It is what it is. We are inadequate and weak. But, in God we find strength and He is more than enough for whatever the situation. We don't have to panic or fret and we can remain calm, even in chaos.

Chaos is a matter of perspective much of the time anyway. I still have to fight within myself at times to overcome the sense of urgency that comes with projects and events. This urgency can cause us to lose perspective and focus and put the wrong things as the priorities. The more chaotic it seems, the more we can end up bulldozing people and leaving a wake of hurt and mistrust. I work to maintain a big picture focus and long term vision with whatever is being undertaken at the time. The process and the people involved are far more important than the details of the event or project. Chaos comes in and makes it appear that the people are the cause of the chaos and the problem.

People are not the problem, they are the purpose we are doing what we are doing. A year from now, it won't matter as much the details as the relationships and results in people's lives that came out of the situation. Perspective makes all the difference. Some things can only be appreciated and are effective only from a big picture view. Take a painting and try to enjoy it from 1 inch away with a magnifying glass. There is far more enjoyment in stepping back and taking the whole thing in. Chaos tries to get us to hold tight to the magnifying glass and miss out. Chaos distorts our perspective and redirects our focus if we let it. It serves much better to keep the focus and perspective on what is truly important to the overall vision.

This is why vision and purpose and core values are so important. These things have to be worked out beforehand.

Coming up - preparing for chaos.