Are the Gospels meant to be read as chronological history?

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell the same story but in different orders and with different details. Some events appear in all four, some in only one. Luke explicitly says he's writing an "orderly account" — but orderly doesn't necessarily mean chronological.How do you read the Gospels? As four separate books, as a harmony, something else? And does the question of historicity affect how you engage with them spiritually?