The oky’s Podcast

January 10 Order - SHAME

Ok, we have spent a lot of time talking about darkness, and order. So let me bring this into a focal point for a moment. Why does all of this matter? 
 
Well, first off, we must understand that the evil, or the bad that exists in this world, is simply a rebellion against the created order of things. God has a specifically beautiful plan that brings life to the world. Any time there is something that is functioning outside of that order, it’s evil. And the problem with evil is that it causes death. 
 
So ask the first question? 
 
Why does it cause death? 
 
Well, go back to the beginning. 
 
Where did God create live in Genesis 1:2? 
 
In the middle of the dark, formless, emptiness.
 
Before God started creating, what existed there? ? ? ]
 
Nothing. 
 
Remember what the words dark, formless, and empty mean together? 
 
They were meant to create a sense of anxiety forming nothingness that was trying to consume all things. If you remember what I said, it was like it was a black hole. No life could exist inside this darkness. Evil is simply a rebellion against the order that God created. And the opposite of 
God’s good creation, is the darkness that has no order - and that darkness does what it has always done. . .. . it consumes life. 
 
So when God told Adam and Eve that if they ate from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would die. . . this wasn’t a prescriptive word. It was a descriptive word. God was describing what would happen to them. They would be consumed by corruption, chaos, disorder, and anything else that would rebel against God’s purposes and plans. Ultimately causing death. 
 
Get this! To rebel against God’s plan, is simply to allow the all consuming darkness back into your life. And ultimately, it will begin to devour all signs of life. . . . 
 
So the next thought - if only God created a way for us to know if we are rebelling against his plans and allowing ourselves to welcome the destructive powers of the darkness into our lives. . . 
 
Oh. . He did!
 
But before I tell you what he gave us to help navigate his plans, I have to warn you. Most people hate the word I am about to tell you. In fact, the world would tell you to rid yourself of the word I am about to say. 
 
But you must know, God intentionally created this to be a natural understanding that we are welcoming in something that should be done differently. 
 
You know what, before I tell you this word, let me read you some scripture. 
 
Genesis 2:15-25
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take dare of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat form any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat form it you will certainly die.” 
 
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 
 
Now the Lord God formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. 
 
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman form the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 
 
The man said, 
 
“This is now bone of my bones 
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called ‘woman’
For she was taken out of man.”
 
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 
 
And and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”
 
Ok, I said the word in this text that I want to share with you. It’s something that God gives us to keep us from allowing the dark chaos of rebellion to rule over us without us knowing it. Let me give you the definition of the word before I tell you what it is. . . ready. . . 
 
(Webster’s dictionary) A painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety. . . . 
 
Do you know what the word is? 
 
SHAME. 
 
Shame is God’s natural indicator that we’ve entered into a rebellion that we were never supposed to entertain. It’s a natural emotion that is caused inside the psyche of a person. It causes someone to understand that they’ve done something that doesn’t align with God’s order. 
 
Adam and Eve were naked, and they felt no shame. . . 
 
This is significant to the story. 
 
They were in alignment with God’s plans, so they didn’t have the first hand knowledge of what evil - or dark chaos - looked like. This was God’s intent. He didn’t want mankind to experience it. But listen to what happens as soon as Adam and Even eat from the tree and entertain disorder. 
 
Genesis 3:6-11
 
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 
 
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid form the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “where are you?”
 
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 
 
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
 
See what happened?
 
God didn’t want them to have a first hand experiential knowledge of evil. He was hoping they would remain true to the order of his plan. But once they disobeyed, their eyes were opened and it brought them to a spot of understanding evil. And what was the mark of this understanding? SHAME. 
 
It’s why they hid. 
 
They knew they were in the wrong, and it caused them to hide from God. 
 
Think about this. They were naked this whole time. . . Why did they suddenly want to be clothed and also hide from God?
They now understood shameful thoughts, they knew what it was like to have shameful lust. And this shame, led them to hide from God. 
 
See, God didn’t give us shame so that we would run and hide. He gave it to us so that we would know we were wrong, and turn back to his plan for us. 
 
It’s a God given system of checks and balance to make sure we don’t walk in darkness, but follow his plans. 
 
So while the world tries to justify actions in order to eliminate shame, we should embrace shame and try to understand what why we are feeling shame. Because the truth is, this is a God given emotion designed to trigger a response to step out of darkness and into light. 
 
There is a lot to this, and we will have to dig into it more as time goes on. 
 
But here is the main thought.. .  
 
Shame is God’s design to make sure we stop and evaluate where we are and what we are doing. This way we wont’ continue to walk in sin and open our lives to the destructive chaos of disorder. 
 
What does this teach me? 
 
Well, that God is too kind and merciful to let us walk in darkness. From the very beginning he has been working a plan to make sure we are able to be with him while living an abundant life here on this earth. And he loves us enough that he gave us this natural marker that will keep us from stepping deeper into darkness. . .If . . we will listen.   

January 9 Order - Sabbath

January 9
 
I’m so busy. . . 
 
You’ve said it. . . I know you have. 
 
How do I know? Because everyone seems to say it! We pack our days full of everything you can think of, and by the time we make room for others or the important things, we just can’t seem to find time. So we tell others that we are so busy we just haven’t been able to get together with them, or we don’t seem to fulfill obligations because we are too busy. .. 
 
There is something wrong here. . . 
 
How is it that we are too busy to do the things in life that matter? 
 
In Exodus there is a list of commandments that were given to the Israelites on Mt. Sinai. We read them in Exodus 20:1-17. 
 
1And God spoke all these words:
2“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3“You shall have no other gods before a me.
4“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13“You shall not murder.
14“You shall not commit adultery.
15“You shall not steal.
16“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
 
 
In this list, you have a few commands that deal with how we view God, you have a couple verses with two we relate to God, and then you have a few commands on how we relate to others. But the 5th commandment is the one I want to focus on for a moment. First of it, it is a command that is different than all the others. The first word of this command is . . Remember. Why remember? 
 
Well, because prior to these commandments, this was something that was already told and modeled for them. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. 
 
Where would they remember it from? 
 
For that, let’s go to Genesis 2. . .
1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing, so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. 
 
God, in all of his purposefully specific creation, chose to stop on the 7th day and rest. 
 
This was part of his order in creation that was different than everything else that was going on around the cosmos. How do I know? 
 
It says that he made it . . .  HOLY. 
 
What does this word mean? It actually is closer to the word Sanctified in the original text and it means to be set apart and consecrated. 
 
What was this day set apart from? 
 
Everything!!!!!
 
God demonstrated that in all of this order, there was to be a day that was set apart from everything else. 
 
The problem with people today is that there is not a day that is set apart from everything else. The order God had planned, was that he worked hard for 6 days, and then on the 7th - nothing! He stepped away form all the hard work he had done, walked away from the creating process, and rested. He paused and did nothing. . . 
 
We don’t like to pause do we. . 
 
(Pause) 
 
See, that made you uncomfortable didn't it? 
 
Did you know your body was actually made for rest? 
 
Have you ever heard of Circadian rhythms? 
 
Franz Halberg is a scientist who is widely considered the “Father of Chronobiology.” This Romanian man who studied at the University of Minnesota, did extensive research on the rhythms of the body. Here are some of the rhythms he found that take place in 7 day cycles with the 7th day being a recovery day from the work that took place in the body the previous 6 days. 
 
Here is a list of discoveries that Halberb made about bodily systems and functions that seem to rise and fall in seven-day cycles. These include heartbeat, blood pressure, body temperature, hormone levels, acid content in the blood, red blood cell count, oral temperature, urine chemistry and volume, the ratio between the brain’s neurotransmitters called epinephrine and norepinephrine, and the flow of several body chemicals such as the stress-coping hormone cortisol. Even the common cold is circaseptan.
 
So interestingly enough, the human body was made to recover every 7 days. Without the 7th day being a rest day, the body can’t fully recover the way it was designed to. 
 
This is because of the imbedded call to order. 
 
God literally made your body for a sabbath. But most people never take that sabbath. 
 
So the one command that was set before the 10 commandments were ever given, is the one that most people ignore. 
 
Why do we do that? 
 
If I’m being honest, it is because we think too highly of ourselves! What will the world do without us? How will we find purpose and identity if we aren’t always needed for something or someone to thrive? 
 
So we fill our schedules, overbook our calendars, and cause our clocks to run out to the last minute so that we can feel valued and full. But all it does is create health issues, and quiet honestly - relationship issues, because we are too busy to enjoy life and real relationship. And in case you didn’t know this, you can’t fully understand relationship with the LORD if you don’t take a day to rest and reflect! 
 
So think about this, without the order of creation including rest, we would wear ourselves down. God didn’t need to rest. He is God. He is the same yesterday today and forever. So it’s not like he is going to wear out if he doesn’t take a rest. 
 
No, he did it for us. He took a rest so that you and I would know that if we don’t take a break, we will break! 
 
This is what order looks like. God specifically made us with a specific need to recover. This was meant to push us into relationship with him. That we would take a day to slow down and reflect on the creator of all things who spoke order and purpose into the world! 
 
So, when was the last time you listened to God, your body, and the rhythms of life, and took a day to rest? 
 
It’s what the God of order instructed! 
 
So, if you want to be the best you can be. . . If you want to succeed in life. . . You must take a day of deep rest! Separate it from everything else, and see how God rejuvenates your body, soul, spirit, and mind.. . 
 
Remember the sabbath day, and keep it separated from everything else. 
 
And in so doing, let God restore the rhythms of life! 

January 8 Order - It is good

I grew up watching sesame street. 
 
Any of you grow up on this amazing show? 
 
There was a segment that I remember loving as a kid. It was a song that I’ll attempt to sing in my amazing voice. . .. . Goes like this. . . 
 
“One of these things is not like the other, One of these things. . .doesn’t belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the other - by the time I finish this song.”
 
Hopefully my rendition of the song was a huge dose of nostalgia! 
 
What was the point of this segment? 
 
To identify what doesn’t belong. 
 
It was the most rudimental ways to help kids start recognizing things that fall into a specific pattern or order. It was a quick and easy way to start identifying things that were out of place. They were images or items that made sense together, but one was out of place. This was education at its most simplistic form, yet taught profound concepts for kids to easily grasp and understand. At first glance, one could see these items and realize that one was out of place.
 
This is wisdom.
 
It’s order in its most rudimentary form.
 
But this is how God designed order. 
 
It’s something meant to be easily identified and understood. 
 
You see, God isn’t trying to hide the purpose and plans he has for all creation - after all, his goal is that all things would be fruitful!
 
Fruitful. . 
 
That’s a biblical word. 
 
It can be confused when we hear it because it doesn’t necessarily translate easily into simplistic-every day conversation. 
 
But let me slow down for a minute. We need to jump into some text today in order to understand why this is even important to our conversation about Order and structure. 
 
Let’s read Genesis 1: 11-28
 
Then God said, “Le the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning- the third day. 
 
And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the starts. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the fourth day. 
 
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning - the fifth day. 
And God said, “ Le the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 
 
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 
 
So God created mankind in his own image, 
In the image of God he crated them;
Male and female he created them. 
 
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 
 
Then God said, “ I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it - I give every green plant for food.” 
And it was so. 
 
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day. 
 
 
Now in this text, we read a very important piece of creation. 
 
Remember that wisdom was right alongside of God from the very beginning. Wisdom was in charge of making sure things worked the way they were supposed to work. Remember wisdom’s confession in Proverbs 8:27-31
 
I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the foundations of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundation of the earth. Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind. 
 
Wisdom was celebrating the order of creation. It was making sense. 
 
In fact, when God says the “good” about his creation, this word is deeper than him just liking something. Good is a word of completion. What he is looking at makes sense. IN other words, it is complete and fulfilling it’s purpose. The good in this is that it is beneficial the way it is. This is why the reverse is said about Man being alone. IN Genesis 2:18, God says it is not Good for man to be alone. This means that it is not complete. It doesn’t have the ability to fulfill it’s purpose in creation. 
 
We will talk more about this part of the narrative next week, because I want to dig deeper into mankind and our ability to be fruitful and multiply. 
 
But for now, just know that the good in creation was that each part was working properly inside of the canvas that was set for it. And listen to how you could tell it was working - It starts in vs. 11. See if you can hear it. 
 
“Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing pants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.” 
 
Did you hear it? 
 
How did he know it was good? 
 
Let me give you another example and see if you hear it here. 
 
Vs. 20
 
And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky. So God cerated the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 
 
Didn’t hear it yet. . . 
 
How about vs. 24
 
And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made th wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 
 
Ok, each time, when did God see that it was good. It wasn’t simply through the existence of piece of creation. It was as each piece was able to be categorized and reproduced according to its kind. 
 
IN other words, Each piece was perfectly aligned to fit into a specific part of the canvas of creation and with that, each piece was able to reproduce according to its kind. 
 
This SCREAMS order! 
 
God knew exactly how he wanted each piece to function, and inside of that functioning, there was the ability to be fruitful and multiply. 
 
Now understand that the word fruitful isn’t just producing like kind. It’s also a word that signifies the ability for something to thrive in a way sets the tone for more life to exist. Without fruitfulness, there is no healthy reproduction of life. First comes the fruitfulness that sets the tone for life, then comes the reproduction of life. 
 
And because each piece was set up and aligned in the order according to its kind, it was able to not only reproduce life, but also sustain it. 
 
So here is the hard part. 
 
Anything outside of this is rebellion agains the order of creation as designed by an intelligent God. 
 
It’s like this, Orange trees will always produce seed that crates oranges. 
 
Corn crop will always produce more corn crop.
 
Dogs will give birth to dogs and cows will give birth to cows. 
 
A dog and a bird will never be able to produce life, because its out of the order of creation. And if science ever twists things deep enough that a dog and a bird can have offspring, I can tell you not that it will not be good. Because God called things good according to their kind. 
 
Here is where this is important to us. . . 
 
There is a pattern and an order in which we can thrive. There is a set methodology in which God will bless us and say it is good. Anything out side of this echoes the words of God’s view of man when he was alone - “it is not good.. . . “
 
This is important, because if we don’t stop and wonder what God’s order looks like, we will miss the opportunity to create and thrive in a way that is good in the eyes of the creator. In fact, anything outside of the plan of God, reverts back to the dark and formless emptiness that was all consuming before God began to breath life into creation. It will produce lifeless, meaningless, emptiness. We will end up feeling unfulfilled and without form.  
 
So it is vital that in all things, we stop and ask, “What was God’s intent with this?”
 
“What did God really want to have happen here?” 
 
What is God trying to do?
See, we live in a society that would try and turn the tables here. Instead of asking what God wants, we continually try to prove that God didn’t say “not to”. 
 
But understand something - God started creation with how and what he wanted, not with how and what he didn’t want. What he didn't want already had its run of the cosmos. The darkness formless nothingness was consuming all signs that life could exist. But God stepped in and said 
 
“Let there be be.” 
 
He created life where there was nothingness that was trying to prevent life. To rebel against his plan is to go back to wanting that emptiness again. 
 
So we must stop and ask, 
 
What does God want? 
 
Matthew 6:33 reminds us to seek first the kingdom of God and all of his righteousness and everything else will be added to us. In other words, everything else will make sense if we seek out God first. Want what God wants, and everything else makes sense. 
 
So what does God want with our time?
 
What does God want with our resources?
 
What does God want with our relationships? 
 
What does God want with our language, our efforts, our habits or sexuality, 
 
What does God want with our lives? 
 
If we can seek this out, everything else will be added to us, and we will find that it is good. 
 
Otherwise, we will find ourselves in a spot where we understand the words of God when he said, “It is not good. . . “ 
 
So if you find yourself in a spot where things are not good, maybe it’s just the evil of the world making life difficult. Maybe it’s like Job where bad things happen to good people. But you should still do the work to stop and evaluate. The question you should ask is, “Am I doing things the way God would want me to. Am I seeking out what he wants for life and for every part of what I am putting my hands to? Do I really want what God wants?” 
 
Because if you can align with God’s plans and his order, he will take a dark, chaotic mess, and breath life in the middle of it so that you can experience what it is like for God to bless you and breath life into your situation, so that it can once again, be good!  

January 7 - Order through the eyes of Job

January 7 - order
 
There was a praise song we sang for many years called, “Blessed be.” There was a bridge to the chorus that said, “You give and take away, You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name.” Now if you don’t know where this lyric comes from, it is out of the book of Job. After receiving 4 different reports of destruction that has claimed everything he owned, his children’s lives, and the livestock that made his livelihood, Job is left with this moment that is described as worship. Job 1:20-21 says, “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:
 
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, 
And naked I will part.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; 
May the name of the LORD be praised.” 
 
It’s such an interesting concept and even more interesting that we made it into a song of worship. 
 
Now I don’t think this is completely wrong theology. God can give and take away anything that he chooses. Yet throughout the scriptures, we don’t see a place where God takes away in order to simply cause pain or suffering. And on top of that, Job is responding to only some of the information. He doesn’t know the behind the scenes or the entire story. 
 
IN the beginning of this narrative, Satan - or the accuser - stands before the Lord and basically tries to tell God that people will only follow him If there is good in their lives. It is satan’s way of trying to poke at God and say that his creation isn’t as good as he thinks it to be. 
 
So God says for him to consider Job. 
 
To which satan responds that Job is only faithful to the LORD, because he has kept his hand of protection on him and wont’ allow anything bad to happen to him. The LORD then says he will lift his hand and allow Satan to do whatever he wants except physically harm him. Then we will see if he worships still. 
 
God says to satan in 1:12 - “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” 
 
At this point, destruction hits Job’s family. 
 
But this is the important part. The LORD didn’t cause destruction. . . He simply lifted his protection from Job and destruction came as Satan took control of everything Job had. So when Job says that the LORD gives and takes away. . . He is misguided. Other than his hand of protection, the LORD didn’t take anything away from JOB. Chaos and death took away. Not the LORD. 
 
See we often wonder why God would cause destruction and darkness. 
 
But the truth is - He doesn’t. 
 
Since the beginning of time, he has been working to make new life in the middle of the chaos. 
 
But what we see also in the Garden narrative, is that there has been an adversary working against order this entire time as well. 
 
For this, we jump to Genesis 3:1-7
 
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?”
 
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘ You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’
 
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, Knowing good and evil.” 
 
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”
 
Now we will come back to this part of the narrative next week to take a deeper look at this part, but for now I want to highlight a very important part. Their eyes were opened. There was specific order that God had for them and if they followed it, everything would be good. But because they chose to disobey God and rebel against his order, they allowed chaos to enter back into their lives. 
 
Now they were able to understand evil. They now had an experiential knowledge of evil. 
 
What did wisdom tell us yesterday in Proverbs 8?
 
“For those who find me find life
And receive favor from the LORD.
But those who fail to find me harm themselves; 
All who hate me love death.”(35-36)
 
The rebellion that Adam and Eve participated in allowed for this death to enter in. The result is that harm existed towards Adam and Eve. They now had first hand knowledge of what evil looked like. They found themselves in a precarious balance of knowing good, but also understanding that evil exists and is ready to cause harm and death. 
 
Again, Not God causing these things. 
 
Just the cover of God being removed allowed death to come in and consume Adam and Eve. 
 
Because this was the role of darkness since Genesis 1:2. . . Darkness was covering the surface of the deep and consuming all things like a black hole. And now Adam and Eve have allowed themselves to be removed from the order God created and now evil stepped back in and began to devour. 
 
But God didn’t cause it. He still causes order and purpose. 
 
So back to Job. 
 
He tries to explain God’s plan. But half way through the book, we watch his disposition change. His wife tells him to curse God and die. His friends tell him he deserves what has happened. And he is left wondering why God would do such a thing to him.
But here is the best part. 
 
God didn’t step in and try to convince Job that he is goo. 
 
He didn’t give him a theology of how darkness tries to consume. 
 
He simply stepped in and reminded Job of what the order of creation looks like. 
 
Listen to this amazing passage of scripture in Job 38
 
JOB 38
 
See, the answer to why evil exists in this world, is because people have walked away from God’s order. They have chosen for themselves a way to do things instead of following his purposes and plan. HE don’t cause evil. . . . So when we try to explain it away and rationalize why he would allow it to be, we miss the point. God intended order and structure. .. But we continually believe we know best. So God has to allow moments where we can be taken back to the fact that he creates order. We focus on the mess. 
 
Pastor Wanda Burgund sent me a verse today that helps explain the intent of God. 
 
Colossians 1:19-20 says this, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Jesus) and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross.” 
 
While evil has come in and has begun to consume us. . . God is still in the process of declaring order in the middle of the chaos. And he did that with Jesus. 
 
When things don’t seem to make sense. When there is death and destruction and brokenness that we walk through, it can be so easy to point toward God and ask why. . . But the truth is, he doesn’t create mess. He isn’t vindictively causing pain and suffering. But while evil exists in this world and is trying to consume all living things into udder darkness, God continues to speak life. He calls things back into order. And that is why he sent Jesus. That through him, peace would come to all things, through his blood shed on the cross. 
 
I don’t know what mess you have had to walk through. 
 
I don’t know what answers you have waited for and not seen. 
 
But I do know this. 
 
God hasn’t caused you harm and pain. 
 
That’s a deeper issue of evil that exists in this world. 
 
But I also know that in the middle of the chaos of life. . . God is still in the process of creating beauty and order, right where you are. 
 
Don’t try to answer why you are walking through this moment. 
 
Simply go to the LORD with your frustrations and pains, 
 
Rely on him. 
 
And watch, as he creates order in the middle of your chaos. 

January 6 - A God of Order

In Proverbs 8 and Genesis 1 we see a God of Order

January 5 - Darkness

Darkness at Jesus's death

January 4 Darkness

The Darkness and Pharaoh 

January 3 - Darkness

The Light Was Good

January 2 - Darkness

Let there be light

January 1 - Darkness

Genesis 1:1-5