At the mercy of chaos no longer

It began with one resounding gong. Then another. Which led to yet another. In the dreamy haze of 1 a.m. sleep, I tried to hold on. Another loud clang, a sound that seemed to go bone deep, and I felt sleep lifting from me. I tried to claw my way back to the blessed rest of the undisturbed, but it was to no avail. I was wide awake.

There I lay, loathing the sounds of the new wind chimes my husband had just installed that very afternoon. He was so excited about his new chimes. They were the biggest we’d ever had. He had taken years to find just the right set of wind chimes for our yard. That afternoon, he had carefully hung them on the back of our house – right, as it turned out, under the bed in our master bedroom. Right where I was roused so unceremoniously from my slumber. 

The chimes hadn’t made so much as a peep all afternoon, but the wind had kicked up in the wee morning hours, activating a boisterous rendition of what sounded to me like church bells. And as I lay there, I knew I couldn’t go outside to retrieve it. It was too high for me to reach. I also knew my husband and daughter would sleep through just about anything, so it would just be the world’s loudest wind chimes and me up all night together. 

It was then I heard another sound. A welcome one, this time. Matt was awake! And he headed outside to take down the chimes. My hero! Picture this:  he stumbled outside at 1:30 in the morning in his pajamas without his glasses or contacts, and he climbed a ladder to retrieve the noisy culprit from its perch. We had a nice laugh about this a few hours later, when it was the proper time for everyone to be awake and functioning. 

But I felt so guilty because I knew how happy he was with his new chimes, but I also knew I would never sleep again if he hung them anywhere on our property. I’m just that light of a sleeper.

Have you ever felt as if you were at the mercy of chaos? Our minds can become so full of thoughts that, before we know it, we feel ourselves going to a dark place. Anxious thoughts, those “what if” questions that play throughout. Angry thoughts, that bitterness just festering as we rehearse offenses done to us. Self-focused thoughts, every-situation-in-life-revolves-around-me thoughts. Or the no-one-likes-me-and-I’ll-never-be-good-enough thoughts. These thoughts can chime so loud that we feel at the mercy of chaos. There’s nothing we can do, is there? 

But in Christ, there is. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians:  For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (10:3-5).

These thoughts can be bullies, can’t they? But we don’t have to stand for them. Those anxious thoughts have no place in our lives because the Bible tells us do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Philippians 4:6). 

Those angry thoughts have no place either. James tells us that human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you (1:20-21).

We can say goodbye to those thoughts of insecurity too. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered (Matthew 10:29-30). How can we feel worthless when God Himself has counted every hair on our heads?

Here’s the thing:  we have to take action. We cannot be set free by just letting our thoughts run amuck. Instead of just giving in to whatever thoughts enter our minds, we have to take action. When we recognize these negative thoughts, we have to get out of bed, go outside, climb that ladder, and take those thoughts captive like Matt wrangled those noisy chimes. 

And then we need to replace them with these types of thoughts:  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things (Philippians 4:8).

Back to those chimes:  A week after they invaded my sweet dreams, I noticed that my dear husband had hung them up again, this time a bit farther from the house on the shed in our backyard. When I gave him “the look,” he explained that he had found the solution. Turns out, those wind chimes came with their own built-in silencer. By finagling a couple of the pieces, my husband was able to temper the volume of the chimes to make it more suitable for our needs.

The answer was there all along! It was built right in. We needn’t have suffered under the oppressive noise after all. We could actually control it so long as we were aware of the built-in silencer and how to use it. Neither are you and I helpless to combat these negative thoughts. We, too, have a silencer. We, too, have a way to control what we think about constantly. We are at the mercy of chaos no longer. 

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).