“In The Beginning”
These are the famous words that begin the greatest book in the world and throughout time—the Bible: “In the beginning.”
Everything started somewhere. The Bible recounts the origin of this very world we live in and the life we inhabit today. It tells the story of chaos—formless, without structure or purpose. This chaos is described as water, and the Bible tells us that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. The word used here evokes the image of a mother resting upon her eggs—conveying warmth, protection, and the intentional care required to bring forth life.
The Spirit of God moved with purpose upon the chaos to bring forth life, purpose, structure, and form—producing the fruit we now see. This creative nature of God, which takes what seems purposeless and chaotic and turns it into something structured and fruitful, is the same nature He imparted to man when He gave the charge: be fruitful and multiply. This charge is echoed in the Great Commission, as disciples are instructed to teach all that God has commanded, to baptize, and to make more disciples.
This process of development in God’s creative order must begin somewhere. Today, I want to focus on that beginning and encourage us to start forming structure in our lives to fulfill God’s purpose.
Every engineering design effort begins with defining the variables. If the problem is not well understood, no viable solution can be derived. The next step is to determine the timeline needed to generate creative solutions, test them through calculations and modeling, iterate as needed, and finally produce a plan—complete with drawings and instructions for implementation. Once finalized, the plan is constructed.
Anyone familiar with the construction process knows that frequent changes are required to adapt to field conditions in order to meet design intent. These three phases—defining variables, managing time, and practicing the plan—are what I submit to you today as the foundation for ordering our lives according to God’s purpose. We must define our variables, take control of our time, and implement the plan that produces fruit.
I pray that the examples and the process God gave me to order my own life will inspire someone else to begin intentionally aligning their life with God’s purpose.
Define Variables
In any design process, understanding the problem is the first step. That includes identifying the client's needs and wants, evaluating the existing conditions, and envisioning the desired end state. The data collection begins—taking pictures, making measurements, jotting down notes—all to better understand the context.
In a similar fashion, how many can remember teachers explaining how to do word problems: read carefully, find all the information provided, determine what is being asked, and ignore any of the unneeded information.
In the same way, if we want to bring order to our lives, we must address the apparent chaos of our day-to-day routines. In my personal journey, I realized that many of the “variables” consuming my time were unnecessary distractions that weren’t helping me reach my desired end state. I had a misalignment with my “main thing.”
The primary variables in my life—Devotion, Family, Ministry, Career, and Development—became clear through this “creative” process. Of course, each of these contains its own complexities, but I soon saw how time spent on social media, watching YouTube, or aimlessly sitting in frustration was consuming the resources I needed to fulfill my calling. My time, energy, and emotions were being drained by meaningless variables.
Defining the key variables of my life helped me reorder my daily routine so that my resources were allocated more effectively—toward my end goal: living as the image of God and fulfilling His purpose.
Life
Life is the lens through which we define our variables. When we evaluate everything we do in light of the life we want to live, we quickly see what is working for or against that vision.
Day-to-day responsibilities such as family, career, hobbies, and faith quickly define the variables that are important. Each of us carries the burden of responsibility, and with intentionality, we can ensure those responsibilities align with the desired end state we’re striving toward: being like Jesus.
This process also exposes the activities that offer no value—neither helpful nor harmful, just... there.
These are the most dangerous variables because they consume our resources, at exponential rates, without us noticing. Time spent scrolling for “just a few minutes” easily elapses hours. Emotional energy is drained by negative content, leaving us unavailable for our spouse’s needs or too depleted to play with our children. A vain conversation steals our joy before we even walk through the door; rendering an evening spent in frustration instead of peace.
This is why ordering our lives is so crucial. We must bring structure so that the resources God gives us—time, energy, emotion—are being used to bear fruit. He has charged us to rule over or have dominion over the talents He has entrusted to us. We must move upon our chaos to bear the fruit of God’s will in our lives.
Goals
Goals provide the roadmap to our desired end state. This is where the design drawings are drafted. Once we understand our variables and know our destination, we must be intentional about structuring our day to move toward that goal.
How do we build a happy family? Earn a promotion? Grow deeper in faith?
With clear variables in hand, we begin assembling the pieces and solving the problem. I now study current events in my professional field to grow in my career. I conserve energy to be fully present for my family when I walk through the door. These steps break down into manageable tasks, which can then be allocated the right resources to keep moving forward.
Here’s a real-world example: as an engineer, I’m striving to obtain my Professional Engineer (PE) license. I could simply take the exam repeatedly and hope to pass, or I could enroll in a prep course, schedule lectures, complete assignments, and take practice exams. That focused approach allows me to use my brainpower effectively and increases my chance of success.
Variables defined. Goals established. Tasks derived. A structured plan developed and implemented.
So, how do you get from planning to building?
You schedule the start date.
Take Control of Your Time
Time is the most valuable resource we have. It is finite, highly demanded, and we are each given a predetermined supply. This reality demands that we approach time with purpose and reclaim misused resources to ensure our project finishes within “budget” and without “owner delays.”
Use a Calendar
The first step to bringing order and structure to your time is to use a calendar. If you don’t know what’s happening, how long it will take, or how to prepare, you will inevitably waste the resource of time.
Let’s say you have a doctor’s appointment in two weeks, a dentist appointment on Friday, and a meeting tomorrow at 10:00 AM. Putting these on a calendar helps you plan. If you decide to work out in the evening instead of preparing for the meeting, your presentation may flop, and the anxiety from that could derail your week. You will feel so bad that the two weeks you had to get ready for the doc, will now be spent worrying about how bad that meeting went.
Sure, this example is exaggerated—but the principle stands. If you don’t use your time, you’ll lose it.
I use Notion calendar to manage this precious resource of time. It consolidates all my calendars in one place: family events, work, ministry, and personal development. This helps me ensure that no variable steals time from another. I don’t schedule work meetings during family time, and vice versa. If I did not schedule these things; my family gets robbed of my attention and my employer gets robbed of my effort. When things are in order both variables get the resources they need: our family is happier and my employer is better served. Everyone gets what they need, and we move closer to our desired end state.
Time Blocking
Time blocking is essential for effective time management. This technique ensures you’re working on the right goals and tasks when your energy and focus are highest.
Start by blocking out fixed events like meetings and appointments. Then allocate remaining time to your core variables. For example, I’m most productive in the morning, so I block that time for writing and creative tasks. Afternoons are reserved for less demanding tasks.
Time blocking builds in margin—time where nothing is scheduled so friends, family, or emergency meetings can be scheduled without “robbing” other areas.
It also allows you to work within a variable (like “Family” or “Career”) without committing to a specific task too far in advance. That way, you're always doing the right work at the right time.
I am less likely to pick the right task at the beginning of the week for 2:00 pm on Thursday afternoon but if I dedicate that time to a specific variable then I can choose the best task for that time slot and be the most effective in my “construction” efforts that afternoon.
Practice and Produce
Once the design is complete and resources are allocated, the only thing left is to begin construction. This is the hardest part—it’s where the real work happens. Flaws are discovered, resources need to be reallocated, and adjustments must be made. Sometimes, a redesign is necessary.
In life, this means starting. If we don’t act, we remain in chaos—life happening to us instead of through us. The only way to bring order is to start implementing it.
The principles discussed so far are the initial steps required for understanding, but we need to take action. If we never take action then we’ve done nothing. So start somewhere.
Do It
Once your variables are defined, start building. Buy a planner. Open your calendar app. Schedule your next client meeting early. Dedicate Thursday afternoons to email. Implement your design.
Yes, adjustments will be needed. Maybe your boss schedules a weekly meeting during your designated email time—no longer chaos, just reallocation. Your email block moves to 3:00 PM, and your reading block shifts to Saturday morning.
The key is to begin. If construction never starts, the structure never gets built. God can never say “It is good.” Until He moves upon the waters and speaks it into existence. We must move on our chaos and bring the order God has given us.
Unforeseen's
In construction—and in life—there will be unforeseen events. Buried utility vaults. Rain delays. These events cannot be planned for but must be adapted to. Life offers unforeseen events by way of illness, loss, layoffs, and many other events that cannot be seen ahead of time.
These moments are hard, costly, and require personal involvement. The danger is allowing chaos to creep back in and undo our progress. But with support from the Body of Christ, redesigns, or even temporary pauses, we can keep building.
Delays are not cancellations. The end state is still possible. That’s the beauty of construction: the process is messy, but the outcome is a masterpiece that glorifies God.
God Gives the Increase
God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. Scripture tells us that our transformation into His image is His glory.
When we take on His creative nature and bring order to our lives, His Spirit moves. We begin to bear fruit and multiply in ways only His supernatural hand can produce.
As we build on the foundation of Jesus Christ—with attention to detail, aligned priorities, and a Kingdom focus—God gives the increase. When God builds, there is no limit to the beauty that results.
Families are restored. Addictions are broken. Wounds are healed. When we follow Him, He adds all these things.
Then all that’s left to do is worship—because it was never our construction effort alone. It was God building through us. And the structure He creates? The perfect work of His Kingdom come and His will done on Earth as it is in heaven.
So Start Somewhere and build together with God. I promise the most joyous part of building your life is the greatest building partner in the world. He always makes it joyful, hopeful, and full of love.
God bless and I can’t wait to see what He builds in you.
Let's build together.