Creating order from chaos

As I sat last night, beads in little plastic drawers and piles all around me, feeling my soul soothed by the sorting and ordering and grouping of colors and shapes and styles, rearranging drawers by color families in a smooth progression, I had to wonder. How big a dork am I?  With each drawer that was properly placed, each bag or string of beads that was cut loose and tumbled, clickety-clack, into drawers, my troubles seemed to ease. My stress lightened, my mood brightened. Maybe it's as simple as the fact that I love shiny things. But maybe it's more.

This morning, as I thanked God that I felt better, I asked Him why sorting helped me so much. And immediately my spirit answered: because that's what He does. He creates order from chaos. He takes despair and confusion and replaces it with hope and wisdom. He reorders, restructures, regroups, taking the raw materials that were there and making something entirely new from them. Something better. He created form from the void, light from darkness. So, perhaps, when we impose order on the jumbled mess all around us, we connect with Him on some level. No, I don't mean that we are playing God. It's not about having the same kind of power. It's about eliminating confusion, erasing doubt, creating sense from disorder — finding peace in the storm.

Thank You, dear Lord, for peace in the midst of the storm. If it can be found in the small storms, it's also there in the monsoons, because You do not change. So as I organize, categorize and alphabetize, help me remember to give You thanks for the way You do all those things within me, in the chaotic, ransacked mess that is my soul.