by David Gibson<\/p>\n
Occasionally, I visit a farm supply store in our town. Like other such businesses, there are rows of shelves neatly displaying merchandise by category: work and casual clothing, tires, tools, implements, and garden supplies. That is how it should be!<\/p>\n
Imagine going into a store where everything is in a jumble with no discernible order at all. Who would want to shop there?<\/p>\n
In our homes, knowing where our things are kept is a great time saver, and if we can keep it that way, it has a positive psychological effect on us.<\/p>\nIn walking around our town, I used to see a terribly junky place directly across the street from an extremely neat and well-maintained house and yard. One was an eyesore, while the other is a sight for sore eyes. Since then, the junky place has been demolished. Good riddance!
\nApparently, some folks think nothing of living in a constant state of chaotic mess.\n
That our God believes in doing things in an orderly way is evident in the very first chapter of the Bible. Initially, “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep<\/em>” (Genesis 1:2 NASB). Then methodically, day by day, He brings beautiful order out of primal chaos. By week’s end, “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good<\/em>” (Genesis 1:31).<\/p>\n During Israel’s wilderness wanderings, God designed the logistics of their moves from place to place, even down to the precise order in which the tribes would set out when they broke camp. He also organized the Levites into divisions of labor, assigning each group specific tasks for dismantling the tabernacle and setting it up again at the next location.<\/p>\n In the church’s worship today, “all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner<\/em>” (I Corinthians 14:40). This creates an atmosphere conducive to learning and mutual upbuilding.<\/p>\n Perhaps the best way to describe our current culture is “Out of Order.”<\/p>\n As those who have been brought “out of darkness into His marvelous light<\/em>” (I Peter 2:9), may we exemplify what John Greenleaf Whittier’s hymn so beautifully expresses,<\/p>\n by David Gibson A place for everything, and everything in its place Occasionally, I visit a farm supply store in our town. Like other such businesses, there are rows of shelves neatly displaying merchandise by category: work and casual clothing, tires, tools, implements, and garden supplies. That is how it should be! Imagine going into…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1837],"class_list":["post-95920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-orderly"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":29289,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-home-place\/","url_meta":{"origin":95920,"position":0},"title":"The Home Place","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant The scene comes clearly to my mind's eye even now. After crossing the mighty Mississippi at Vicksburg, we knew there were only 150 miles to the little town of Haynesville, Louisiana, and \"the old home place.\" \"Home\" is one of the sweet and dear words from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/old-home-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":58625,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/peace-of-mind\/","url_meta":{"origin":95920,"position":1},"title":"Peace of Mind","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Carey Scott Our lives are a mess. We have so much going on all the time that we seldom take a pause to reflect upon our lives and determine if we are capable of having peace in our souls. \u00a0All the inventions that were supposed to make our lives\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Dove-300x205.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":53833,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-dwelling-place-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":95920,"position":2},"title":"The Dwelling Place of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Kings 8:22-30 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When the world was first created, mankind had direct access to God, but then sin entered the picture - Genesis 3:8 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sin becomes a barrier between us and God - Isaiah 59:1-3 II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God is everywhere - Psalms 139 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There is no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52572,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-benevolence-by-christians-limited-to-other-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":95920,"position":3},"title":"Is benevolence by Christians limited to other Christians?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I want to know whether sharing or any act of benevolence by Christians should be limited to the body of Christ alone. Answer: There are two standards for benevolence work.\u00a0 One concerns what the church can do and the other concerns what individuals are expected to do. The easy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92523,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-help-a-family-member-who-is-not-helping-herself\/","url_meta":{"origin":95920,"position":4},"title":"How do I help a family member who is not helping herself?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello! I would like to know what the biblical approach to this problem is. My husband and I are newly married. We're just about getting by with our bills and debts with both of our incomes. At the same time, we're trying to save for his green card process,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63678,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-heaven-like\/","url_meta":{"origin":95920,"position":5},"title":"What is Heaven Like?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 28, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some things are just hard to describe \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When asked to describe her husband, Shulammith answered - Song 5:10-16 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We understand that this is not a precise, scientific description \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rather, the unknown is described by the familiar. Somehow we know the real thing is better. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Each illustration\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95920\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}“Take from our souls the strain and stress,
\nAnd let our ordered lives confess
\nThe beauty of thy peace.”<\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"