Faithful in Chaos
4 min read
1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. 2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him. 3 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
— 2 Kings 12:1-3
When our lives get crazy (for whatever reason), they get really crazy. Chaos has a way of magnifying exponentially in our lives. That’s the way it is with sin. Sin is the mother of chaos. And when you consider all the sin and the chaos that it births in this world (exponentially), we really get a sense of the power of God to simply hold civilization together.
Throughout history and throughout our lives, God reveals His faithfulness to His covenant promises despite the chaos of sin that we perpetuate. Even in the midst of chaos, God demonstrates His faithfulness, but God does so usually through His faithful servants.
God was faithful in bringing Joash to the throne when Athaliah was executing all the children of Ahaziah, her son. God used a royal nurse, a servant, to make sure that a prince born of a mother of Judah was saved from the slaughter.
God also demonstrated His faithfulness and grace when Judah continued to burn incense in the “high places” instead of worshipping in the temple. When the worship of the people was being compromised, God brought Joash under the discipleship and tutelage of a faithful priest Jehoiada to teach him the ways of God.
When we are faced with the chaos of sin in this world, it is tempting to become discouraged and lose hope. But we must never give in to the devil’s discouragement. We must remember how God has always been faithful in the messiness and brokenness and chaos of a sinful world. And God will always continue to be faithful in our lives and in this world, no matter what.
Father, Thank You for Your faithfulness. Even when we sin and fall short of Your glory, we can trust that You will always be faithful. Even in the chaos of our lives, help us to remember Your faithfulness. In Jesus’s name. Amen.