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Finding Peace in Chaos- Purification

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This article is part of a series on finding peace in everyday chaos. It may be better to start from the beginning.

All I saw was water.

I also saw the water heater, furnace, and rarely-used items we store in the utility room. But, water all over the floor dominated my attention.

Our water heater was happily regurgitating its contents onto the floor. We would need a new one. It would be expensive. This wasn’t something I had planned for.

All I felt was relief.

I expected to panic. I waited for that sinking feeling that I couldn’t afford this, I couldn’t handle this. What would we not be able to afford because of this? What goals would be sacrificed this time? How many months would it take to get back on track?

But, all I felt was relief.

While I started searching for appliances online, all I could do was shake my head. Praise God we had not been on vacation when it went out. How fortunate that my father-in-law is a master plumber and lives in my house!

It was so weird to feel lucky at that moment.

That must be what peace in everyday chaos feels like.

We want God’s peace to mean nothing bad will surprise us. We want it to mean nothing we value will be taken away from us.

That’s not how it works.

Instead, God slowly purifies us of our attachments so we don’t have a panic attack when bad things happen. By spending time close to God, we learn to trust Him more than our good health, money in savings, and stability in life. Health, money, and stability can be lost in the blink of an eye through no fault of our own.

God’s love can’t.

As we encounter God, He will purify these attachments and attractions if we let Him. This purification happens at a soul level: within the intellect, memory, and will.

Purification of the Intellect

My inexplicable calm during an appliance meltdown was a moment of purified intellect. I saw all the problems, effort, and expenses ahead. But, these stayed in their proper proportion.

As God purifies the intellect, we see more of what is real and we are less fooled by what is fake. As we encounter God more, everything else falls into its proper place.

We notice blessings to appreciate more than problems to complain about. After all, if the God of the universe loves us personally, everything else seems a lot less important, doesn’t it?

What beliefs is God asking you to let go of? Are you open to God changing your mind? Do you want to see the world through God’s eyes, or will you cling to your perspective?

Purification of the Memory

As I took in the mini-lake our utility room had become, I remembered the moment we realized how much daycare would cost when our first child was soon to be born. We absolutely did not have the money sitting around, but we figured it out. We would figure this out, too.

Memory is supposed to remind us of our experiences of God’s goodness. Often, the memory becomes distorted, only remembering the bad things or failing to assure the intellect and will that the current situation will be ok.

What memories is God wanting to heal? What grudges and hurts make it hard to see the times that God has provided for you in the past? What memories are you most grateful for?

Purification of the Will

The temptation to feel sorry for myself was there when I realized the extent of what happened with our water heater, but by God’s grace, I didn’t choose it.

As our intellect presents realities and our memory calls up past events our will selects what we believe. We have the capacity to choose how we see the situations we find ourselves in.

We can either choose to rebel against reality, leading to anxiety, anger, and self-pity or we can choose to set aside what we hoped reality would be and resign ourselves to what it actually is.

What do you believe because it is convenient or comforting even though you know it’s not true?

Conclusion

These are three examples of the many ways God changes us as we spend time with Him. Our job is to be open to letting go of our broken habits, biases, and prejudices. God will show them to us and heal us as long as we cooperate.

I’ve been caught in the trap of trying to use God to fix my brokenness. I want to be perfect so I can feel self-sufficient. I want to be humble so I can be proud of myself.

Being set free from slavery to our self-centered perspective is a beautiful byproduct of encountering God. It must never be the reason that we seek Him!

Will we let God draw us close enough that we are changed?

God bless us on our journey!
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