Replacing Chaos with Order

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

I’m ready to replace the chaos in my life with order. What about you? Have you experienced enough disease, world crises, country dissent, state issues, and personal problems that range from A to Z?

While normal can change daily, sometimes hourly, a means of establishing order takes a commitment to guidelines that help us maintain our safety and sanity.

Replacing Chaos with Order

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Where do we begin to establish order? Is there a website or special online group with all the solutions to an orderly life? In truth, what we crave is peace, and we believe order will provide a means to grasp it.

I read the definition of order and narrowed the meaning down to three items that I believe will help us understand the concept:

How things of like manner follow the same pattern. This includes laws, behavior, guidelines, or how a meeting or religious service flows.
Oral or written demands or requests.
The way people live culturally, politically, socially, or economically.

The above tells me we aren’t particularly fond of change. But it also tells me change can replace chaos with order. No one wants disorder and confusion to rule their lives. It wields a sword at our innate needs of relationships, significance, and security.

Here are 15 ways to help restore order to our lives.

Eliminate addictive behaviors that are harmful to our bodies and souls.
Avoid events and people who are negative and critical.
Organize your life. Sometimes that means contacting a professional.
Eat a healthy diet and at regular intervals.
Commit to 8 hours of sleep every night.
Take time for yourself with hobbies and enjoyable activities.
Exercise regularly.
Explore the outdoors.
Indulge in laughter.
Plan and take a vacation.
Resolve not to procrastinate.
Read fiction, nonfiction, biographies, and poetry. Ponder if and how to apply life lessons to your life.
Schedule an appointment with a counselor.
Examine your spiritual life.
Pray for direction

To help me find solid physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, I studied what the Bible says in Ecclesiastes. These verses reminded me of God’s order for my life.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ESV

For everything there is a season, and a time for everything under heaven;2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

This verse from 1 Corinthians 14:40 ESV sums up the value of order:

But all things should be done decently and in order.