IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS II

Dearly Beloved, I bring you greetings in the name that is above every other name, Jesus Christ the Son of the living God, and our soon coming King. Last week I shared on the almightiness of God in the midst of chaos. Our text in Genesis 1:2 made it abundantly clear that the Spirit of God still moves in the midst of chaos, however we are the ones that choose our focus. We can either decide to focus on the Spirit of God, or we can focus on the chaos. But, our decision will surely impact our outcome. Today we’ll be looking at the importance of stillness or rest in the midst of chaos.

 

“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2 KJV)

 

The root meaning of the word “moved” in our text means to be relaxed, depicting stillness, rest, calmness. As a result, God was able to take the next action that brought about a complete transformation and defeated the chaos. Child of God, there’s power in stillness. Psalms 46:10 (KJV) says “Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” When you are still, then you can know and truly experience just how mighty your God is, because you will receive clear directions from God about what to do in that situation.

 

As humans, it’s understandable that stillness in the midst of chaos is not the easiest thing to do. More often than not, we panic, we are filled with an anxiety and what to react in the flesh, but God wants us to be still. Beloved, gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), so we have it in us to be still. Jesus in the feeding of 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21) asked the disciples to make the people sit down. The disciples were already reacting to the situation saying, there is no place to buy food, send them away. But, Jesus knew that in order to see the manifestation of God, it required stillness, it required resting in God, and then a miracle took place.

 

David in 1Samuel 30 came back from battle with his men to find out that their camps had been looted, and their wives and families carried away. David cried his eyes out, the Bible says he cried till he could cry no more. But, afterwards he encouraged himself in the Lord and then inquired of the Lord about what to do and he got an answer. Child of God, it takes a certain level of stillness and calmness to remind yourself about God’s goodness and to declare it out loud in the midst of chaos. We must train ourselves to respond to difficulties and challenges by resting in God and being still before Him.

 

Rest brings clarity. The power of God is made manifest in stillness. No matter what you are going through, rest in God, rest in His promises, and watch that chaos turn into a testimony. Exodus 14:13-14 admonishes us not to fear, but to Stand and see the salvation of our God. He says hold your peace, and I will fight for you. These are examples of how God wants us to respond in the midst of chaos. Beloved rest in God, and see His salvation.

 

I pray that God will manifest Himself in a new dimension to you. He will fight your battles, and you will win in the competitions of life. I bless you today in Jesus’ name.

 

Maranatha!

 

In His Royal Service

Dr. Mike Okonkwo

The Presiding Bishop