Culture is full of chaos and disorder that often causes us stress and anxiety. You may feel like you “just can’t get your act together”, or like you are always a step behind. If so, I recommend that you take time to reflect and order your private world.

I highly recommend that you read Gordon McDonald’s classic book, Ordering Your Private World. Organizing the private world of one’s life seems to be a universal human struggle. There are many people whose lives are like one of Florida’s sinkholes. They feel like something is about to cave-in or collapse. Often when people feel so overwhelmed, they may just try to bring order to their surroundings by decluttering their home or office,  or they may read a self-help book hoping it will help them organize their busy schedules. However, most often the disorganization is actually in their private world. We actually need to declutter our minds. Being able to think clearly is very important. We need to take time to reflect on knowing what we believe and truly value, and to be able to commune with God deeply.

I really like this quote by John Wesley: “Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry, because I never undertake more work than I can go through with calmness of Spirit.”

I found it helpful to see how McDonald divides the private world into these 5 parts:

1) Our motivation–what makes us function as we do?

2) What we do with the limited amount of time we have

3) How we use our intellect;  focusing on wisdom and knowledge (are we keeping our minds sharp?)

4)  Our spiritual strength–our spirit is the intimate place where we commune with the Father, which can also be thought of as the ‘garden of our private world’ (Remember the song, “I Come to the Garden Alone”?) Jesus regularly withdrew from the crowds to pray and spend time with God, especially in early morning hours.

5) The place of rest where we find peace for restoration, a very essential source for our inner organization. God did not intend for rest to be leisure and amusement as many people seem to think, but rather a necessity of quiet solitude for those who want to grow and mature in the Lord.