A Case of Confusion

There’s been a scripture I keep hearing taken out of context and repeated without the full understanding. As Christians, it’s so important that we’re not misreading and misrepresenting this (or any) scripture, as this Word is the foundation of our lives. You wouldn’t want a foundation with cracks, right? So, let’s dive in.

1 Corinthians 14:33 – “For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace…”

This scripture does not say “God will never lead you to confusing situations,” or “God would never make you confused.” It says that HE is not a God of confusion. He’s not the author of confusion. His promises are YES and AMEN. We, however, are humans, and if there’s anything that humans are, its confusing.

Look at the characters in the Bible. David, Abraham & Sarah, Peter, John the Baptist, to name a few. Do you think they never felt confused while walking out what God had for them? John the Baptist, after baptizing Jesus and being so sure in Him being the Son of God at first encounter still asked of Jesus “are you the one that is to come…?” (Matthew 11:3, Luke 7:19) while he was in prison. God used each of the situations these Biblical characters were in to transform and strengthen their faith. Please understand that if someone tells you “God would never lead you to be confused in a situation” they are wrong. Sometimes God will bring you to those kind of things to learn to trust HIM and not your circumstances or your feelings. Confusion is what happens when we deviate from the simplicity of trusting God and allow ourselves to be overtaken by our situations. God would never intentionally author sadness for sadness’ sake; He would use it to deliver you closer to Him and walk you through and to goodness. In the same way, sometimes God will allow confusion remind you that He is purely the opposite.

There are many things in life that can bring you confusion, even if God spoke them to you, or opened the doors to what they are. Some everyday examples can be:

1. When God told you to take the job but it’s not the dream job, you’d feel confused about why He put you there in the first place.

2. When your spouse isn’t loyal in a marriage, you’d feel confused about how God would let that happen.

3. When your child is diagnosed with a disease, you’d feel confusion about what to do or how to help.

We as Christians need to stop perpetuating this lie that if God is in it then we’ll never be confused. God purposefully gives us tests and trials to learn to depend on Him. When we are confused, He is not. When we are shaken, He is not. His purpose is always clear and certain. When He says something is for you, that settles it. We tend to start to doubt our situations when something that was once crystal clear becomes challenging, and then we label what was meant to test us “confusing.” Don’t doubt God because you feel confused. That’s where the enemy comes in. One of the very first things the devil did in the Bible was introduce doubt to Eve saying “but did God really say…?” Don’t allow your confusion to lead to doubt and your beliefs to sit in limbo because you are not pursuing what God said.

Confusion doesn’t mean that God’s hand isn’t on your situation. Being confused in the middle of your situation doesn’t mean that God didn’t really tell you to do something. Confusion is a feeling. Meaning we shouldn’t allow our feelings to be in our forefront and we shouldn’t let our feelings dictate whether or not God is present. Feeling confused doesn’t mean you should give up on where He’s brought you. Confusion is not causation to quit. The definition of confusion is “lack of understanding, uncertainty, or being unclear,” but in truth, God never promises us a clear path. We are not meant to understand God’s ways. Proverbs 3:5-6 says “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your path straight.” When we completely submit to God, when we chase Him with everything in our life, He’ll help us be at peace with what he’s given us. We’re not meant to stay confused forever, that’s why we need to hand it all over to God and let His hand be in it and over it, rather than try to figure it out on our own.

Please note that the opposite of confusion is not clarity, it’s peace. You will not understand everything that God does, but if you trust Him enough that He will guide you in the right way, you will be at peace. Peace is the absence of the wondering or the need to always question why or how something is happening. When you let go of needing to figure it all out, then you’ll find peace. If God said “I want you to do this,” lean into that. When you fight that, you will feel confused. We’re all human and it’s a natural thing to question God (his promptings, his timing, etc.) but I’ve personally found that the more I fight Him, the more I feel frustrated. The confusion and pain come from not being able to control the situation. But I was never in control to begin with. When you are able to let go of what you expected or feel, you release a lot of the confusion, and you lean into only what God can do from there.

An important thing to note also, in the scripture in 1 Corinthians 14:33, Paul is speaking to the church of Corinth, and explaining “intelligibility in worship.” He uses this chapter to talk about how a church service should run with regard to speaking/worshipping. In this section Paul discusses that there shouldn’t be more than one voice speaking at a time, so as not to confuse others. This is where “God is not a God of confusion” comes in. In essence, Paul is saying that in order to preach the good news, and build the church up (1 Corinthians 14:33) that only one voice should be speaking while the others listen. God is one voice, and the only voice we should be leaning on. Not the voices of others around us, not the voice of our feelings, but only the voice of God. When we channel Him and listen fully, we will be able to speak with full peace and confidence that God has given us.

The moral of this post: please don’t take one verse of scripture to try to make it applicable to your situation or someone else’s situation. Even if it sounds like good advice, or is a catchy Pinterest quote, if you’re picking and choosing a verse without fully grasping its meaning, it won’t be true. Study the full story of scripture, and understand what it is you’re really reading. After all, the next verse in 1 Corinthians 12:34 is that “women should stay silent in the church…” and we know where that’d put us if we took it out of context.