Confusion

(1 Cor 14:33) For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

We live in a time of confusion. There is confusion among nations, among churches, among families, and confusion about any subject you care to bring up. Instead of figuring things out and charting a straight course, no one seems to know what to do anymore. This is true of just about all aspects of life. The churches are so full of confusion that no one knows who, if anyone has the truth anymore. The message being sent out by those who claim to be Christians is so full of confusion that it is hard to get anyone to listen anymore. The lives of those who profess to be Christians are so full of confusion that their testimony is powerless and even negative in its effects on the unchurched.

To confuse is to mix or blend things, so that they cannot be distinguished. It means to disorder, to render indistinct. Confusion throws the mind into disorder. God is not the author of confusion. On the contrary, God sets our feet upon a rock and establishes our goings. He gives us good understanding and assurance. He strengthens and settles us and gives us a sound mind. God creates order out of chaos. Has this been the effect of God on your life? Is the effect of your life on others stability and order – or confusion?

Confusion is uncertainty instead of certainty and assurance. It is doubt instead of faith. It is fear and trouble instead of confidence and peace. Confusion is chaos instead of order. It is blending things together that don’t belong together, and erasing the distinction, or making it difficult for others to see the distinction.

Confusion brings shame. When you do something that is against the natural order of things and contrary to common sense and the common notion of right and wrong, you will be ashamed when it becomes known.

Confusion brings an absence of peace. There can be no peace where there is no confidence. There can only be trouble where there is no certainty and the distinctions are all blurred until you cannot tell friend from foe.

(1 Cor 14:33) For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace,…

Confusion causes despair – because nothing is certain anymore. There is a loss of direction and purpose. There is cynicism and skepticism about everything. Confusion often results in rebellion because there is nothing to regard or respect anymore. Everything that we have trusted has been yanked out from under us.

Confusion stops all forward movement. No one is going anywhere when they are confused. Nothing is going to get done when there is confusion. No one knows what to do or which way to go, so everything just stops or keeps going in circles, getting nowhere. This is true of the simplest earthly activities and it is also true of spiritual growth and the work of God.

Confusion is the damnation of a soul. They are lost and cannot find their way. It is one thing to be out of the way and know it. You might know the way home and be able to come back, but not if you are confused and you have lost your way. Nothing is sure anymore. It is like vertigo for a pilot or mirages in the desert to a person dying of thirst. It becomes impossible to know what is real and what is not. It is impossible to know what to do or which way to go. You cannot believe anything you see or hear or feel, and therefore are doomed.

Satan is the author of confusion and he has some tools he uses to get the job done. Of course, sin is his best means of causing confusion. If you study God’s law you will notice that He prescribed the most severe penalties for the sins that cause the most confusion. The more confusion caused by the sin, the worse the sin is in God’s eyes.

(Lev 20:10) And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

Only an adulterous person or their spouse can fully understand the deep confusion that is caused by this sin. Its effects are not confined to the marriage relationship, but reach out into all other areas of the personality and soul of those affected by it. Its damage reaches to the generations that follow, also. It causes great confusion and destroys the foundations of so many important things pertaining to this life, as well as the soul, and therefore God said this sin is punishable by death – the most severe penalty.

(Lev 20:11) And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

(Lev 20:12) And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.

Any kind of sexual sin is confusion. Intimacy is a gift of God and runs parallel in so many ways to spiritual intimacy with God. Sexual sin is out of God’s order and it therefore confuses the understanding of God. People who commit sexual sin bring such confusion into their own soul and those affected by their sin that they have a hard time ever finding God in truth. These kinds of sins also cause confusion because of the children. Whose children are they? No one can know for sure. There is even more confusion because it is a betrayal of love and trust by the people who are closest to you. It is impossible without God’s help to recover your trust in someone who has betrayed your most intimate trust and shamed you in such an awful way as this. It will be very difficult to ever be sure of their faithfulness again? It is all out of order and causes chaos in the lives of everyone involved.

There were other sins that were punishable by death in God’s law. There were the sins of murder, having familiar spirits, not regarding the Sabbath and keeping it holy, to name a few. These sins required a more severe punishment because they result in confusion. When these sins are committed and not punished people who are watching are confused and lose their way.

(Deu 13:5) And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God… to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

False teachers cause confusion. They say, "Peace, peace," but their words produce just the opposite of peace. Their false teachings that contradict themselves and are not founded upon the Word of God cause people to despair of the Truth. Pilate said, "What is truth?" He was confused and confounded because he had heard so much false teaching. The devil uses this tool as much as any other. It works very well for him. Men are very good at confusing one another, and what you do causes those that are following you to either see more clearly or to be blinded and confused. Think of the awful judgment that awaits those who are responsible for confusing people about the way to God!

Noise causes confusion. Noise makes it impossible to distinguish voices, words, and particular sounds. Noise is simply sound without order. Most of what is going across the pulpits and the airwaves is simply noise and it is causing more confusion than true understanding of God, his Word, and his ways. People are confused because they can’t hear the voice of God for all the noise. A multitude of voices causes confusion. When too many are talking at once there is no order and no way to distinguish between the voices. Unless there is one voice there will be confusion and chaos.

Not conforming to God’s order for the home causes confusion. When the wife is the head of the home there is confusion because it is out of order. The children are confused and their lives will prove it down the road. When the children are running the home there is confusion. When homes are broken up there is much confusion because everything that is according to God’s order has been wrecked. When children see their mother or father with someone besides each other it does great damage to their soul and confuses their understanding. It makes it very hard for them to understand about a faithful God who doesn’t change and whose love stays the same.

So make straight paths for your feet. Don’t walk in confusion. Don’t allow things in your life that confuse your thinking about life and about right and wrong and about God. Watch after your children and others who are following you and make sure that you walk a straight path before them and don’t cause them to be confused. Don’t send forth an uncertain sound. Make a difference between right and wrong, between the clean and the unclean, between the holy and the unholy. Order your life in the ways of God and don’t let disorder and confusion be the mark of your life and its effect on others. True godliness demands this and God will not be pleased with anything that causes confusion.

Mike Miller
5/23/2008