Co-written by: Drs. Yvonne & Scott Rheinschmidt Ph D LPC
“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” (1 Cor. 14:33)

If we didn’t already have enough to deal with lately with all the changes related to the coronavirus now we have to figure what to think or feel about all the riots going on in our country, and even in our own city. How do we maintain our own inner peace when the world around us seems so chaotic? It seems that each time we feel things are getting normal again another situation shows up. Will chaos ever end?

Chaos is a state of utter confusion or disorder which occurs during a time of change in conditions. When there is a change in our lives do we want to feel ‘chaotic’ or do we really want to feel ‘normal’? I believe most of us really want to feel a sense of peacefulness and return to feeling normal but sometimes we don’t know how to do this. Chaos or order is developed and
maintained in the mind regardless of what’s happening in the outer word.

In Gestalt Psychology there is a concept called the “Zones of Awareness”. Basically, this means there are three zones of awareness, the outer zone, middle zone, and inner zone. When we witness something happening in the outer world, the world around us, like the riots that have been happening, we experience thoughts and then feelings. It’s in the thoughts, the middle
zone, where chaos or order are developed and maintained. If chaos is developed in our thinking the natural feelings that emerge in our inner zone are stress, anxiousness, fear and anger which can then turn into unhelpful behaviors that can actually cause more stress and reinforce chaos.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2) The ‘middle zone’, our thinking, is where God wants to help us find order in a chaotic world. When we are feeling disturbed with anxiousness, stress, and fear we are not thinking Godly thoughts. Through His Word He provides us with the thoughts we need to bring us back to order and peacefulness.