Which Side of Chaos Do You Choose?

Almost every day I go to work at Customer Service. Among other things it involves helping people with their questions, taking returns and keeping items tagged and ready to be sold. There are days when Customer Service is clean and organized. There are no piles of things to do and equally wonderful all the people are pleasant and easy to help.

Inevitably however there will come that day when disorder and chaos take over . Your once clean counter is collecting a pile of returned clothing, and the small back room becomes smaller because broken coffee makers are dangerously stacked. And guess what that same chaos has hit the rest of the store. No one can seem to keep up, so all your carts are full and there is no where else stick the stuff people keep returning. In addition to that bundle of “fun,” all those once happy customers have turned into angry people who are dissatisfied with the store.

To me it is like a mirror image of life. One day there is unity among family and friends, your health, job and house are all in tip top shape and your breathing easy. Then much like the chaos that erupts in the store you find out you have some painful health condition, your car brakes down, and there is drama and discord among you and your friends.

James 1:2 -4 says

“Dear bothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, let it be an opportunity for great joy. For when your faith is tested your endurance will have a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is full developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything “

James says “when” not “if.”  We are assured that troubles will come and our faith will be tested. However we are also told that these are opportunities. Life here on earth as a believer was not meant to be some easy, pleasurable experience. We will face trials and pain.

Now our struggles here may not seem as massive as that of  someone else, but they are our struggles. The enemy knows how to drag us down and make us useless, but more so our Heavenly Father knows how to use those same things for good. So next time troubles come your way, be joyful! and thank God for allowing you be refined. Then endure by the power of  the Holy Spirit and the guidance of God’s Word and get ready to grow.