Creating Order-God Style
Do you feel like you're always playing catch-up? Like you can never seem to get ahead no matter how hard you try? In this day and age there seems to be a million and one ways to become more productive. In this post I'm going to talk about some time- tested methods that God used to create order in the universe.
Why do I focus on heavily on creating order?? Well, two reasons: The first reason is that order CREATES freedom, abundance, and purpose! And the second reason , it's biblical.
In Genesis, the very first book of the bible, starts off by God creating everything in an ordered way. Although life can feel chaotic, God is not chaotic. He is orderly and intentional. Let's think about it. He created everything in 7 days...yes, I say 7 and not 6, because God created rest too, which is what he did on the 7th DAY. It wasn't an afterthought, it's part of the entire creation process. Another cool thing to point out is that the author of Genesis writes, Each day "God said" and then he did what he said. HE followed through with his intentions. We can miss this very important part about order. We HAVE to do what we say we're going to do. This builds trust with ourselves, others, and most importantly God. The bible is the living Word, and it's relevant even today! Which is why I'm going to breakdown the 7 days of creation to help you understand how to create MORE order in your own life based on what God did in those 7 days.
Day 1- is all about VISION- God created light and since He is light, that means he extended himself by sending out his energy. Scientists today confirm that the universe is still expanding at the speed of light. What does this have to do with order? When there's light, you can see things, you have clear vision, SO ultimately God cast vision on the first day. In order to have order, you must have vision for what it is you want. Clarity gives you a more precise vision of what you're working towards. If there's confusion on the vision, you'll find yourself frustrated, overwhelmed, and burned out, which is the opposite of order, BECAUSE Order creates freedom, abundance, and purpose!
So, here's a question for you. What vision do you need to clarify in your life? This can feel like a lot, so break down your life into smaller sections, like Parenting, Marriage, Job, etc. Whichever area in your life you're trying to get order in, cast the vision for what you want! A thriving marriage, kids that are respectful and playful, a job that is fulfilling. Be specific and clear on your vision for these areas.
Day 2 of creation is all about STRUCTURE- God created an expanse by separating the waters and creating heaven. I kind of view this as God organizing the universe and putting things in its place. He structured the universe to operate in a way that makes sense. How often do we live in a way that isn't structured because we don't want to feel restricted, but in the end it actually restricts us EVEN MORE when there ISN'T order. God created structure in the universe for each element to operate freely AND at its best.
What structure do you need to implement in your life so you can operate at your best? For me I have a very consistent wakeup and bedtime routine. Bookending my day creates structure that helps me get enough sleep so I can operate at my best! I can control only so many things in my life, so starting and ending my day on my own terms empowers me. Think about the times in your life where you took care of business. Did this just happen, or was there planning, scheduling, and structures put into place to make sure it all got taken care of?
Alright, Day 3 of creation is about BOUNDARIES - God separated land from waters and then created vegetation on the land. So, here's the thing. Boundaries mark the limits of an area. It differentiates where something begins and ends, such as separating land from the water. Boundaries also nourish our soul just like vegetation was created to nourish man and animals. Personal Boundaries are essential for creating order! Jesus himself had personal boundaries. He could have taught more, healed more, been more involved in people's lives, and although He was God, HE WAS ALSO human and needed to say both "yes" and "no" to opportunities. Just because an opportunity presents itself, doesn't mean that you need to say yes. There's GOOD ideas and there's GOD ideas, these are very different.
Here are some questions to ponder:
What boundaries do you need to create in your life so you have more order?
Who do you need to say No more to?
What do you need to say Yes to more often?
If you're finding that this is a challenging concept, you're not alone! I've struggled with this too, but have found so much freedom in my life as I develop my own personal boundaries and become more clear on the GOD ideas vs. the GOOD ideas. Find me on social media and reach out with any questions about boundaries, and you can also check out Dr. Townsend and Dr. Cloud's book on Boundaries.
We’re now on Day 4 of creation and it is about STRATEGY- God creates the sun, moon, and stars on this day. So, this can be kind of perplexing to think about, since he created light already, right? We covered light and vision in the first day AND God is light, so He created sources of light to ALSO put under his rule. This was His strategy to create space for us to realize his magnitude, as well as create ways that our human brains can conceptualize. If there wasn't the sun, moon, and stars, we'd be super confused how there was light, so God gifted us with ways our brains could handle. He was intentional with this. This wasn't a mistake, like he forgot to do THIS the first day. Just like God, who intentionally strategized everything in this order, we are also to have STRATEGIES in our OWN life. To just allow life to happen to us, is to miss out on using our full brain. Humans were gifted a brain that can plan and be intentional! We have an opportunity to utilize this skill, let's steward our gifts well.
Strategizing ways to get to your goals will help you get there quicker and without as much drama. Consider what areas of your life you need to create some strategies in. Many create strategies for their businesses BUT don't spend very much time on their personal life.
Are you wanting to become more patient? Come up with a strategy!
Are you wanting to be more fun? Come up with a strategy!
Are you wanting to be a better spouse or parent? You probably already know what I'm going to say...you can say it with me...come up with a strategy!
This is one of my favorite things to do with clients, is to strategize areas of their lives they've never taken the time to be intentional and create order!
Okay, let's recap what we've already covered. Day 1 is all about VISION, Day 2 is creating STRUCTURE, Day 3 is focused on BOUNDARIES, and we just finished Day 4, which is all about creating STRATEGIES.
Day 5 is when it gets even more exciting- It's all about MOMENTUM baby!
God was just warming up before.
On the 5th day he creates the living creatures in the waters and in the sky. These were created to keep the vegetation going. They were part of the momentum that contributes to the Vision, Structure, Boundaries, and Strategy that God had! All these elements contribute to the magnitude and direction of the end goal.
When we create order in our life, it's important to add in sustainable elements to keep you inspired and going, which builds momentum! What does that mean in real talk?? Well, it's actually a combination of all the elements! Each element of order that I identify are not sequential. They can be utilized to create order at any point in time. So, it's intentionally creating structure, in your life that continues to inspire you to work towards your vision. We can all start off with incredible Vision, but our world is distracting with all the loud opinions and urgency to do.all.the.things.all.the.time. So, we must put into place elements to keep us on track, to sustain the order we want. Without Vision, we cannot have Order, and without momentum, the Order will not continue.
SO, let me ask you. What helpful systems, routines, rhythms or habits do you have in place to help you continue moving forward?
Also, Take an inventory on your life to identify if there's things holding you back. Here's the hard truth. You're the only one in charge of your own momentum! I ENCOURAGE you to take a step today, to create more momentum in your life! Whether it's adding something in, OR taking something out of your life, THESE are all related to Boundaries! If you'd like ideas on how to do this, email me and tell me about YOU and the vision you're needing momentum for! I respond to all my emails personally.
Okay, so now we're on to DAY 6, which is about RELATIONSHIPs!! On this day, God created the living creatures that live on land, including good old Adam and Eve. He created us humans because he wants to have a relationship with us and wants us to have a relationship with each other! You're probably thinking, what do relationships have to do with having an Ordered life? Well, without relationships, order doesn’t happen, because order requires TRUST, and the foundation of any healthy relationship is TRUST. So, There’s 3 important types of relationships. Your relationship with God, others, and yourself. Trust needs to occur in each relationship to have true, order. So, here are questions to ask yourself about the 3 types of relationships:
For your relationship with others: Who in your life do you trust to encourage you to keep up the momentum towards your vision?
For your relationship with God: Have you brought your vision, structure, boundaries, and strategies to God first or are you going to him after the fact and asking for His blessing? Do you trust him enough to bring your vision to him BEFORE you start?
For your relationship with yourself: Consider the level of trust you must have with yourself to always follow through with your own promises. What would it take for you to trust yourself so completely that you always do what you tell yourself you're going to do?
Alright, we've made it to DAY 7, which is all about - REST! Here is what it says in Genesis 2, "Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it, he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." Ya'll if God, THE most important, productive, efficient, and goal driven person RESTED, so can we! None of us are soooo important that we can't rest. This isn't an option. This is KEY to creating order.
Now, the trick is to determine what rest looks like for you specifically! Rest is about energy. We all have things that GIVE us energy AND things that TAKE our energy. I like to call them Energy Gainers and Drainers and they need to balance each other out. I'll definitely do an episode on this topic, because it's super helpful to dig into! So, just to drive the point home a little more, Jesus slept, ate, took time to pray, and even left his hometown because it was too draining and His value was appreciated elsewhere more. So, let's summarize this. Both God and Jesus, who by the way are one in the same, rested. What does that say for us? It's kinda important. But we still don't do it. I'm guilty of this myself! Rest looks a lot different since I've had kids and started my business and all my responsibilities have increased.
As your responsibilities increase, so does your need for rest. Another word related to rest, is margin. Margin allows you to be more creative and interestingly enough, it allows God to move in new ways. How often I've missed creative solutions because I was nose to the grindstone instead of taking time to rest and recharge. Rest provides opportunity to be re-inspired and live life from abundance and not lack or scarcity. Rest is defined as a behavior aimed at increasing physical and mental well-being. Rest can be broken down into 7 categories: physical, mental, social, sensory, creative, spiritual, and emotional and We are called to steward this life and these categories well.
So, here's the challenge though, what does true rest look like? Unfortunately, I can't answer that question for you. Sometimes a good way to answer a hard question is to flip it around, so in this case, what does fake-rest feel and look like for you? What do you regularly do to trick yourself into believing you're resting, but you don't feel recharged after?
For me fake resting is anything I do that includes the word "binge". Binge watching shows, like Blue Bloods, binge eating food-especially ice cream, and binge shopping on Amazon. If I'm honest, when I am binging, I'm actually numbing myself from my feelings verses allowing myself to rest. Numbing out to avoid is different than rest. So, I want to leave you with this, What would it look like to truly allow yourself to rest- without guilt? What specific ways can you recharge yourself in those 7 categories? (physical, mental, social, sensory, creative, spiritual, and emotional)
I hope you’ve found the Creation story to be an encouragement and helpful tool for creating order in your life. As a recap, Day 1 is all about VISION, Day 2 is about creating STRUCTURE, Day 3 is establishing BOUNDARIES, Day 4 is about implementing STRATEGIES, Day 5 maintaining RELATIONSHIPS, and finally for Day 6 is creating and sustaining MOMENTUM.
Tune into my podcast, The Life Edit Podcast, each week to hear insights and strategies from my perspective as a Life Coach and former Social Worker, from experts who will share their best practices, and stories from people just like you looking to make changes in their lives.