Sometimes chaos is just another piece of the puzzle

​I think one of our great challenges in life is we are always in search of the path with the least chaos. And so, when we encounter chaos, we begin to think something is out of sorts. Something is wrong here. We can begin to think life has strayed wildly out of control.

Oh I've been there. I wrote the book on chaos.

Several years ago, I was meeting with one of my very first students in my role as a part-time alcohol and drug education coordinator at a local college. The student had violated an alcohol policy.

It wasn't the first time this student had faced significant consequences in their life as a result of their relationship with alcohol. As a result, before seeing me, they had to get an evaluation done with a substance abuse counselor. The counselor recommended outpatient treatment and classes.

When the student met with me, they told me they had no intention of following through with the recommendations.

When I asked why not, they simply told me they didn't believe they had a problem. The student then proceeded to give me all the reasons they were so sure of this.

I could quit tomorrow, they said. It's not like I have to have a drink when I wake up in the morning. It's not like I'm flunking out of school. I'm young and I'm just having fun. I just don't have a problem, they adamantly repeated.

I sat there for a minute and let the student finish. Then I looked at the student and asked, can I tell you something? They said sure.

I said, I've said every single one of the things you just said, word for word. And you know what, I said them all in the middle of having an alcohol problem.

In saying those words, I was reminded that the chaos in our lives is only chaos until the real meaning and value of it is revealed. I became more aware that our chaos usually feels so chaotic because we look at it solely through the lens of how it's wounding us, and not how it may one day bring healing to someone else.

Our chaos often feels chaotic because we are frantically trying to put together the puzzle of our individual lives. Chaos feels like a piece is missing or this is a piece to someone else's puzzle and not mine. This chaos piece doesn't fit the picture on the outside of the box of my life puzzle.

But God - God is always calmly and gently scooping up all of our puzzle pieces. Yours and mine, the ones we think that fit and the ones we think are sadly misplaced. God just scoops them up and puts them where they belong in the beautiful puzzle he sees for the world he's created.

It feels chaotic, but we haven't seen the outside of God's puzzle box yet.

If you encounter something in this world today that feels like it's a piece of the puzzle that doesn't fit, give yourself some grace and accept that the piece fits. It's just a piece way too meaningful for your puzzle. God's using that piece in his puzzle.