Set Your House in Order . . .: Reflections on God's Divine Order

By Brenda Miller

Come and drink from the well of reconciliation. In the book of Genesis, God hovers over the watery depths and speaks His fixed order into creation. The book of Genesis contains numerous accounts of the activities of God at water wells. The scenes picture the wells as gathering places for refreshment and survival, like the account of Hagar; for seeking marital relationships, as in the stories of Rebekah and Rachel. Like Bethel, altars established at dig sites of wells institute the worship of God. Praise, thanksgiving and reconciliation, as between Isaac and Abimelech, restore Gods moral, social, and cosmic order. The history of Jacob and Esau and Joseph and his family digs into human relationships and the priority God places on keeping His family and the communitys order maintained and reconciled. God inspired Genesis to be humanitys instruction manual for building and restoring families and relationships according to His Divine Order.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512788938

Brenda Miller

Brenda taught conscious conflict resolution in six countries and has studied and applied the work of those who know the true cause of, and the cure for stress. They include Eckhart Tolle, Byron Katie, Sadhguru, Mooji, Guy Finley and more. She is passionate (all day long) about helping people find peace inside of themselves – that way, they can access it no matter where they are. She has proof that we are meant to live that way! By doing this work, she went from grumpy to grateful and from blaming - to blossoming her kids (and herself). Brenda has a private practice to help people free themselves from upsets and inner conflict - in 30 seconds! Her favorite discovery has been that joy is natural. She helps parents and their kids rediscover theirs by doing one of these strategies every time a negative state appears. Brenda is an invitation for you to hear the long-forgotten whisper of wellbeing and come back to states that are natural to you: peaceful, playful, patient, and excited about getting up in the morning!

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Introduction

Hezekiah received these words from the prophet Isaiah when he was sick unto death, according to the King James Version. It wasn’t just a death threat; he knew Isaiah spoke the truth. God gives no idle warnings! Weeping uncontrollably, he cried for deliverance to the One and only Lord who can turn back the clock. He pleaded for God’s healing and unfailing love.

I question my Wonderful Counselor (Isa. 9:6). Why are these words so embedded in my mind since reading them a few months ago? The warning of these words can be applied in so many ways, for example, health crises, financial issues, spiritual warfare, or the end-times. If only I could experience a vision or writing on the wall and a person to interpret the meaning (Dan. 5:5).

Is God possibly calling me to write another book and to walk again on an unknown path? This would be another risk of my reputation in order to establish God’s reputation, as Mark Batterson dares me in his forty-day prayer challenge, Draw the Circle. In Children of the Day, Beth Moore also cheers me on, When God opens the door again, let’s stand back up, brush ourselves off, and step through it. In that wild place of getting back up, a wonder can occur: our God can embolden us (42).

Whether a warning or another calling, I should pay attention because God is always up to something. A prophet does not stand before me in order to announce the specifics of an impending, life-changing experience like Hezekiah received.

On the day of this writing, my thoughts settled on my sister-in-law who had gone to work eight days before, as she had done for most of her life. The next morning my brother noticed she had not left for work. He went to the bedroom and found her unresponsive with no control of her body.

She suffered a massive stroke sometime during the night. Migraines had plagued her for many years, but no tests had warned of any impending health emergency. No warning!

No opportunity superseded the stroke in order to set her house in order or, most importantly, to pray to God for healing and more time to live. She is a vibrant, caring person and a great communicator, but at this writing, she speaks nothing. She has a relationship with the One who can turn back the clock. We are expecting a miracle.

How should we live our lives knowing that health emergencies like this occur every day? We live in a health-conscious society with a treatment for many health issues. Even the healthiest people drop dead of heart attacks, discover they have cancer with only a short time to live, or just don’t make it home one day because of an accident or unforeseen event.

Vast amounts of information are available to us today, but still we have no guarantee that we will have time to get our ducks in a row before we inhale our last breath. I am again reminded of the scripture, My times are in your hand (Ps. 31:15a). Our hearts should be encouraged because God promises His protection.

God’s protection and provision surround us constantly, but the free will He created in us came with responsibility. How we live and what we accept into our lives determine the order in our lives.

When I think of setting the house in order, my thoughts go to my childhood. Spring cleaning! Every year, spring was heralded with cleaning the entire house, ceiling to floor. We tore the beds apart, cleaned out the closets and drawers, cleaned, painted, polished, and washed everything. Nothing escaped my mother’s eyes. I still hate to dust and shake rugs.

Order and cleanliness, especially in spiritual matters, are important to God. The first laws He gave to the Israelites specified the handling of most of their activities. Because the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp … therefore your camp must be holy (Deut. 23:14). Their houses and their lives were to be free of anything indecent because God cannot look upon sin.

Jeremiah spoke on behalf of God when he prophesied, if this fixed order departs, there will be grave consequences (Jer. 31:36). God created, ordained, and commanded that our houses and hearts be completely devoted to Him.

God instituted the original covenant with the house of Israel. He wrote this covenant on their hearts, and as adopted children, His laws apply to us as well (Jer. 31:33). Spring cleaning should be a daily activity.

What about our house, the temple that believers inhabit, and the dwelling of the Spirit of God? Cleaning should be a daily process. Remove the cobwebs that entangle the enemies of our hearts. Organize the clutter in our minds that inhibits godly thoughts. Wipe off the dirt that threatens the view of the windows of our souls.

In the book of Matthew, I read of a house empty, swept, and put in order (12:44). The emptiness of the house allowed the evil spirit to enter, bring his friends, and take up residence. A house put into godly order will be filled to the brim and overflow with His presence. No unholy attitude or sin can displace His dominion.

According to Paul, we need to cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1). Only those who have clean hands and a pure heart, those who do not lift up their souls to what is false or swear deceitfully, are clean enough to stand before the Lord in His holy presence (Ps. 24:4).

House can also be interpreted as household or family. In the beginning, the book of Genesis tells the story of the creation of the world and all that inhabits time and space. God created everything, including the first family, for His pleasure, according to His fixed order.

With all of these thoughts swirling around in my mind concerning the command to set your house in order, I have determined to allow divine inspiration to guide me through a meditation on Genesis. It is my desire to write an orderly account for you, praying that my reflections will transform our attitudes in order to live spiritually ordered lives (Luke 1:3).

READER RESPONSE

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The Fixed Order

The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

—Genesis 1:2

REFLECTION

The first book in the Holy Bible is Genesis, which is believed to have been written by Moses. Tradition holds that Moses received the information either from a direct revelation from God or ancient manuscripts handed down and taught to each generation.

According to Henry H. Halley, the story of the creation of the world evolved as a creation hymn. Is it possible that God first taught the hymn to Noah?

In the hymn, the Creator, with total authority, organized and powerfully spoke the world into existence. In the beginning denotes an orderly account; God, as the subject, initiated all the action (Gen. 1:1). God observed the earth was without form and void without order or purpose, uninhabited by any living thing (Gen. 1:2).

So He set about bringing order out of chaos, speaking into existence time and space, and forming boundaries that created purpose for the world. For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created (Rev. 4:11b KJV).

He was the master Architect, Builder, Designer, and Decorator. The author of Genesis described the six-day project much like the work of an artist. The tapestry of the earth came alive with light (Rev. 22:5), a beautiful heaven that separated the total expanse of water and then dry land that gave boundaries to the waters below the heaven.

The scriptures speak of heaven as the dwelling place for God. (See Psalm 104, Isaiah 40:22, and Amos 9:6.) He placed His created beings—man and animals—on the earth to inhabit and to be cocreators of His creation. The heavens are the LORD’S heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man (Ps. 115:16). A place and function are required to have order.

At the command of the Creator, the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night appeared in the heaven (Jer. 31:35a). Inspiration surely flowed from the pen of the author of Genesis as he wrote the story of God’s magnificently organized act of creation.

The Artist continued to decorate the dry land with textures and colors as He created all kinds of vegetation. No longer was the earth a desolate wasteland without purpose but a beautiful tropical island of productivity.

Vegetation appeared as an obedient act of God’s Word. The power of the dry land produced the ability of plants and trees to reproduce from seed, as He spoke into being (Gen. 1:12).

The lights from the dome over the earth began the process of signs, seasons, days, and years. The word for season also refers to religious festival. The festivals that God later commanded through Moses for the Israelites were seasonal celebrations.

God named everything He called into being, and He was pleased with the results. This pleasure envisions a personal God, One we can trust to always do what is best for His creation.

It apparently was important to Him, and He continued the act of creating for His pleasure. The waters moved with all kinds of living creatures, and winged creations flew above. Then all the animals, creeping things, livestock, and beasts roamed on the earth, as He said (vv. 20–25). They became fertile and multiplied at His command.

Something was missing, even after God saw that it was good (v. 25b). God desired that someone would also enjoy this amazing world He had spoken into being. So God created man in his own image, male and female to have dominion over all living things (v. 27). The word of the LORD … formed the spirit of man within him (Zech. 12:1).

Man, created in His image, after our likeness, received the order for using the creation for survival and reproduction (Gen. 1:26). The shared responsibility to have dominion and nurture the creation fell to man. Then God stood back from the tapestry and saw it was very good (v. 31).

RESPONSIBILITY

Having lived on a farm most of my life, I praise God’s act of creation and take seriously the responsibility to care for His works. I look out a window or walk outside, and there it is: the power, the fixed order, and the beauty of the One and only God of creation.

The magnificent, ever-changing landscape prompts me to raise my hands in worship and praise. I sympathize with the many people who can barely see the sky or the green grass under their feet, much less the rest of the earth. Out of sight! Out of mind!

Is this the reason why we have not maintained and nurtured the earth as God intended? The air and water quality, the lack of potential for production from the land, the destruction of habitats for the animals, and loss of critical areas for survival are critical concerns for humanity. Our greed, our selfishness, and the absence of godly order have exposed our future generations to grave consequences.

My granddaughter who lives in the city had been studying the constellations of the sky. When I brought her to my house one evening, I heard her gasp from the backseat. She suddenly realized that she could actually see the formation of the stars. The light pollution of the city had prevented the actual view of the stars.

In childlike amazement, she lay down in the backyard when we got home. I have no doubt that God wasn’t totally enjoying her pleasure, as He remembered His own pleasure when He created all we see, hear, smell, and feel.

As I am writing, the sky is ablaze with color as the sun sets. I know the book of Revelation tells of a new heaven and a new earth, but I honestly cannot fathom how God can outperform what I am gazing at in wonder. He can and will!

READER RESPONSE

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The First Household

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

—Genesis 2:15

REFLECTION

It’s not about me is a statement from The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren. For by him all things were created … all things were created through him and for him (Col. 1:16). God breathed life, not just air, into man and provided all we need to survive, everything that is pleasant to the sight and good for food (Gen. 2:7, 9).

God—Elohim or the Mighty Creator—spoke into being a productive ordering of the earth and its inhabitants to yield its riches and accomplish God’s purposes, according to The MacArthur Bible Commentary. He provided man’s first home and established a beautiful garden.

It wasn’t until He formed man from the dust of the earth and rivers flowed from the garden that God ordered the growth of the trees and vegetation. As part of the created order, man was commanded to work it and keep it, the first occupation (v. 15).

Man was given the freedom to be part of the creative process. God, in His wisdom, knew that paradise was not static but ever-changing. Responsibility to future changes accompanied that freedom.

Two trees sprung up: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (v. 9). The new world had its limitations. Restrictions are always best for the well-being of any person or property. God commanded Adam to eat from every tree except these two, or he would die. Death is part of the created order.

God also knew, in His omniscience, it was not good that the man should be alone (2:18). Our amazing God actually allowed man to have responsibility in this decision, so he was given his first job description. God paraded the animals