My sock drawer is a bit of a mess, full of mismatched and missing mates. On any given day it can be nerve-wracking to find a pair I can use. Unfortunately, my life sometimes looks like my sock drawer: unorganized. How much of my life looks like my sock drawer? Oh, for a well ordered sock drawer! Oh, for a well ordered life!
Paul wrote to the Colossians (2:5) and said, “Though I am absent in body, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.” This is helpful instruction. The Colossians were well ordered. “Everything has a place and everything in its place.” Their worship was well kept and neatly arranged.. Their lives reflected their God, a God of order, not confusion, and all things done decently and in order. An army column is straight and neat, a suit is crisp with a good crease, and their personal lives and church life were of good order, enough so that Paul remarked on it and looked forward to seeing it. That’s the kind of church I’d like to brag about. That’s the kind of personal life I need. Would someone say of me, “I’m looking forward to visiting you and seeing your well ordered life?” Yeah, right. Some days are better than others, but there are seasons of unordered chaos, quite the shambles. How is your life? Is your life in disarray, a mess, a pile? How does your sock drawer look? Could you use some good order? I could.
So how to order your life? How to direct it, set it straight, take control of it, firmly establish it? We can order our farming and crops, our cows, and dam, but what about your life itself? Are you spinning more plates than you can handle? Are you juggling more balls than you can hold? I find focus and direction in the prayer of Psalm 119:133, “Order my steps in your word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” Another way to say this is, “Keep steady my steps (or direct my steps) according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.” Christ is the living Word and the only source for a well ordered life. He was never hurried, chaotic, or unordered. He had time to accomplish all that was needed. Our lives must not be by chance or happenstance. We order our thoughts, speech, time, and actions. We need right proportions and relations, with Jesus as our source and guide. Our lives are ordered IN his word. We take every thought captive, disciplining ourselves to designate what happens when and what goes where. The sock drawer doesn’t own you, you own the sock drawer.
How to have a life of good order? It begins with prayer and prioritizing His Word. What’s necessary? Say, “No” to the frivolous and set boundaries and limits. Discipline and direct your time and budget. Choose your words carefully; bridle your tongue. Grab hold of the reins. Purpose to sit with the Lord regularly, to clear your mind of your will and fill it with His. You are His workmanship, if you are in Christ, created in Christ for good works, so walk in them.
Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
when he delights in His way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.” My sock drawer (and life) are works in progress. Some days are neater than others. Life happens and I “expect the unexpected.” God is gracious and patient with my failings. At the end of it all, it is reliance and dependence on Him to keep things good ordered.