Author of Peace

After a weekend where I didn't feel like I got anything accomplished (I may have, but I don't feel like I did, you know?), and it being Monday when the kids are always a little weird because they are decompressing from the weekend, and with a really messy house, and a to-do list that was long and growing - I was..... out-of-sorts this morning. No, let's call a spade a spade. I have lost my cool with the kids multiple times this morning already. It has taken me all morning to pay bills, I'm only halfway thru with getting "the bed" washed, (I'm doing everything on our bed today - sheets, bedspread, extra blankets, and the mattress pad that takes a minimum of two cycles to dry. This is the type of day that Jmk could probably talk me into one of those washing machines that does "17 pairs of jeans at one time" or whatever it is), and I've got so many things swimming in my mind, that even my to-do list isn't helping me stay focused, like it usually does.

I guess you can tell that I'm in a state right now.

Well, in the middle of all this, when I was close to absolutely breaking down, I get an email from dear Sister Patty, a sweet church friend. I was waiting on an email from the mortgage company to get a blasted access code so I could log onto our account, and instead, the Lord blessed me with something that I needed to see and read.
I don't need to be on here blogging right now, but one of you out there may need this as much as I did. There's a reason that my messy house is breaking me down - because there is no peace in cluttered countertops and junk-filled floors.

I hope you get the comfort from this that I did:

O Lord, You are not the author of confusion

And that is what I feel today.

This home that You have blessed me with

Overwhelms me with its abundance.

As I skirt around misplaced objects and clothes

I find myself sinking into despair.

Though my cup runneth over I feel no peace

For there is no order here.

O Lord, You are not the author of confusion

For You are orderly and perfect and just.

Grant me the strength to find my way back to peace

To find enjoyment in Your provision and my orderliness .

I have not been careful with my time and I now reap

The rewards of idleness and lack of planning.

Help me redeem my time and reclaim my home,

That I may serve You and my family better.

O Lord, You are not the author of confusion,

Help me to discern those possessions that are truly needful

And dispense of that which is robbing me of my joy.

For having too much is as much a curse as having too little-

This anguish of soul and spirit still causes me grief the same.

Teach me Lord to be content with sufficient for each day,

For by freeing my heart of this burden of over abundance,

I will make more room in it for You.

© Glenys Robyn Hicks 2005

'For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.'
1 Corinthians 14:33