What happens when you turn on the light? You can see where you\u2019re going\u2014unless your surroundings are full of disorder and chaotic confusion.<\/p>\n
God impressed on my heart that 2016 will be\u00a0a year of Light and Order. All too often I\u2019ve found myself bogged down in disorder<\/em>\u2014whether in my natural surroundings, in my relationships, or in the outcome of snap decisions birthed from not seeking God first.<\/p>\n The Bible has much to say about Light<\/em>. One of my favorite verses has been John 8:12, \u201cI am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n This Scripture comforted and equipped me when I was a new Christian. I had witnessed many of my friends fall into the confusion of cults or carnality, so I\u00a0clung to this verse and trusted Jesus to keep me in the Light as I followed Him.<\/p>\n But does the Bible touch on the topic of order<\/em>? Absolutely. The entire testimony of Scripture highlights God\u2019s order for man, for the earth, and for all of life and nature. Two main Scriptures come to mind on this topic, and a third\u2014a very obscure verse\u2014jumped out at me about order\/disorder a couple of weeks ago as I was reading the Word.<\/p>\n First Corinthians 14:33 concludes a discussion about the use of charismatic gifts in church meetings. Paul sums it up this way: \u201cFor God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints<\/em>,\u201d and in verse 40 admonishes, \u201cLet all things be done decently and in order<\/strong><\/em>\u201d (KJV; emphasis added). Order, according to these references, is the polar opposite<\/em> of confusion, and at the same time it flows in harmony with peace.<\/p>\n The apostle James also spoke of disorder to a group of believers who apparently tore into one another on a regular basis in jealous fits. He warned them, \u201c\u2026if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth<\/em>\u201d (James 3:14). He continued, \u201cThis wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic<\/em>\u201d (verse 15).<\/p>\n Tying it all together, he flatly rebuked them. \u201cFor where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder<\/strong> and every evil thing<\/em>\u201d (verse 16; emphasis added).<\/p>\n How\u2019s that<\/em> for a well-deserved slap in the face? James equated disorder<\/em> with every evil thing<\/em>. I don\u2019t know about you, but I want none<\/em> of that!<\/p>\n One Scripture, though,\u00a0brought it all home for me concerning the connection between Light and Order. And it came from an unexpected source\u2014troubled Job in the middle of his horrible ordeal.<\/p>\n His friends\u2014who initially came to comfort him after suddenly losing his ten children, his health, and his wealth\u2014ended up reproving and scorning him in his misery. Outraged and despairing, Job longed for death and lamented, \u201cBefore I go\u2014and I shall not return\u2014to the land of darkness and deep shadow<\/strong>, the land of utter gloom and darkness itself, of deep shadow without order<\/strong>, and which shines as the darkness<\/strong><\/em>\u201d (Job 10:21-22; emphasis added).<\/p>\n In his misery, Job prophetically linked darkness with disorder. The two go hand-in-hand in the same way that their opposites do\u2014Light and Order.<\/p>\n And isn\u2019t it interesting that the source<\/em> of all of Job\u2019s\u00a0misery was neither his arrogance, his sin,\u00a0nor his dysfunction (as his friends had smugly insinuated)? No; the very root<\/em> of Job\u2019s woe\u00a0originated from the one who came to steal, kill, and destroy\u2014the accuser of the brethren\u2014the devil.<\/p>\n Although Job never discerned the source of\u00a0his troubles throughout\u00a0the ordeal, he knew<\/em> in his gut that it had something to do with darkness and disorder. You see, any time the devil attacks, he brings with him the darkness which\u00a0emanates from\u00a0his kingdom, and he injects the disorder\u00a0that\u00a0spews from\u00a0the very core of his nature.<\/p>\n Therefore, if you ever find yourself in a season of confusion, disorder, darkness, or gloom, recognize this: Your enemy is attempting to interject himself into the equation of your life. Here\u2019s the good news\u2014try as he might, this god of darkness and disorder is no match for the Light of the world, the Word made flesh\u2014Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n Your job at these times\u00a0is to turn on the Light\u2014call out to your Lord and open His Word. Let Him speak to you\u00a0through its pages, and rejoice that\u00a0His Light still<\/em> shines in darkness\u2026and that the darkness never could\u2014and never will\u2014overpower it.<\/p>\n Dorothy<\/p>\n In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. <\/em>John 1:4-5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What happens when you turn on the light? You can see where you\u2019re going\u2014unless your surroundings are full of disorder and chaotic confusion. God impressed on my heart that 2016 will be\u00a0a year of Light and Order. All too often I\u2019ve found myself bogged down in disorder\u2014whether in my natural surroundings, in my relationships, or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[527],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-light-and-order"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7435"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7442,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7435\/revisions\/7442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}