[Blog] The Chaos of God's Plan

Do you fear chaos? Do you let this fear of chaos prevent you from pursuing opportunities you otherwise would?

From The Fall to the flood, things didn’t look good in the early days for people who were originally created “in the image of God”! But God had plans to put humanity back on track. He picked a man named Abram (later Abraham) to launch His rescue mission, but God’s instructions weren’t what we would expect. God promised to make Abraham into “a great nation” and “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3). But there was a problem: Abram and his wife were far beyond childbearing age, and God wasn’t exactly forthcoming with detailed instructions. In effect, God said, “Leave your home, and go from here,” and Abram responded, “Okay, but where?” God told him, “I’ll tell you later.”

As years went by, there was still no child. Abram lived in the midst of spiritual and relational chaos—made exponentially worse when he followed his wife’s bad advice and fathered a child by her maid! However, God assured him, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward” (Genesis 15:1). God told him to look up at the night sky, and again God promised, “Count the stars—if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be” (v. 5). Still, Abram wasn’t convinced and questioned God. At that moment, we find one of the most unusual and wonderful scenes in all of history.

God told Abram to bring some animals and sacrifice them, forming an aisle between the pieces; it was the way covenants were made in those days. But that night, something strange happened. Abram fell into a deep sleep, and “a dreadful darkness came over him.” When the sun had set, “a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.” God was saying, “I’m not asking you to make this commitment. I’m making it. It’s my covenant with you, and I’ll fulfill it.

In all of the internal doubts and relational tension caused by following God’s directions for 25 years, Abram desperately needed some reassurance. That fateful day, God appeared in the form of fire and smoke, just like on Sinai and just like in the wilderness over the tabernacle. This scene reminds us that God fulfilled His part of the covenant when He, in the form of Jesus, was torn apart for us because we couldn’t keep our part of the covenant.

Abraham is known as “the father of our faith,” but he had to endure decades of chaos to fulfill God’s purpose for him.

What chaos is God calling you to endure? What situation is God calling you to trust Him in? We cannot run from chaos. We must embrace it.

This blog was extracted from How Leaders Create Chaos: And Why They Should! by Sam Chand. Find out how to be one of the first to get your hands on a copy of Sam Chand’s newest book on leadership by visiting us at http://samchandbook.com/.