Law and Order vs. Grace and Disorder

There are two things you must know about me. 

One, I love order.  It makes my heart happy when things are neatly stashed away on a shelf or in a drawer.  I am slightly more OCD than I’m willing to admit.  I’m not a fringe comber, but I’m pretty close.  I have been known to completely reorganize my pantry because one can of tuna doesn’t fit on the shelf with the other cans.  My shoes are aligned perfectly on their shelves, the right one facing forward, the left the opposite. This is so I can see the front and back of each pair so as to make the perfect shoe selection each day.  I don’t just love order, I’m obsessed. 

Two, I love law shows.  I am a serious “Law and Order” fanatic.  Despite the fact that I’ve seen every episode more than once, I will watch L&O marathons without shame.  If I believed in previous lives, then I was a lawyer like Jack McCoy.  My obsession with law shows started as soon as I saw my first episode of Perry Mason.  (Side note: If you don’t know who Perry Mason is, then you’re too young to read my blog) I am drawn to any show where a lawyer interrogates a witness until he breaks, and few things make me want to stand up and say “yes!” as much a compelling closing argument.

In life the love of such things as order and the law can be just that- loves.  Loves, but not always realities.  I’ve come to realize that my true reality is more a state of grace and disorder.  I threw my mom hat into the grace and disorder ring this week, or better yet, it was snatched in for me.

M#1, still on his trip to NYC called me today.  His calls are historically received for two distinct reasons.  First- he misses home and just calls to “check in” or two- something is wrong. Being that he is on spring break with a group of friends, I was not surprised that today’s reason was the latter.  He hadn’t looked closely enough at his bank account and overspent. He was facing an overdrawn checking account and four more days in NYC with no money. 

Law would say that he made his bed and he would have to figure it out.  Order would say that he practice what I taught him about balancing his checkbook to the penny.  Reality said grace and disorder.  I gave grace along with a loan as I put money in his account.  The order of my day- or at least half an hour of it- was lost as I counselled him through his debacle and how to avoid the same mistake in the future.  The debacle itself was a picture of disorder. 

In my flesh, grace and disorder can cause frustration for sure.  Then I allow the Lord to remind me that He too exists in much the same way.  Without a doubt, He gives grace in abundance.  I mess up over and over.  His grace comes not as a loan but as a payment into my very soul.  He forgives my blunders and washes away the debt I owe Him.  He is a God of order, yet the world He created is the worst kind of disorder; a knot only He can untangle.  I forget His instruction and warnings, making a mess of things, and yet He miraculously brings order to my life.

I love the law, but live by grace.  I love order, but can’t manufacture it. 
Romans 6:14- “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” 
That is a very compelling closing argument, and I say, “yes!”