I am a person who compartmentalizes everything. My brain constantly seeks to turn chaos into order and it will turn a thought, problem, or struggle, over and over and over trying to make sense of it…trying to make it work or fit into my own limited framework of reality.

Ahhh, there it is. My own limited framework of reality. I can only draw upon that which I know in my efforts to understand, process, or fix, and then “file” those things in life that don’t fit easily, the things that aren’t “fair,” the things that cause pain. I can only draw on my own understanding, which is so infinitely small in the scope of things.

The Bible is full of encouragement in the void of understanding…

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5-6‬ NLT)

…the go to verse when we don’t understand. Its words meant to be both comforting and instructional.

I also find solace in how over and over God takes seemingly impossible situations and uses what could be called chaos to win the battle. Think of Joshua and the victory over Jericho, Gideon and his victory over the Midianites. By staying obedient, even when it went against all conventional thinking, they were given victory. God redeemed the situation!

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. (‭Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭8-9‬ NLT)

God and His ways cannot be compartmentalized. We will diminish what He wants to accomplish in us when we try. I love the way Matt Chandler says it. “Trying to figure out God is like trying to catch a fish in the Pacific Ocean with an inch of dental floss.”

Today, if you are struggling to make sense of something…turning it over and over in your mind, beating it to death with your thoughts, I encourage you to turn those thoughts to prayers and invite God into your battle. He is capable of victories beyond our understanding if we allow Him the latitude to move within our lives and remain obedient in the void of our own understanding.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. (‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬ NLT)