God's Division

God is so unlike us that we cannot even comprehend His goodness. He just does not think about things as we do. The way He looks at people, situations, and even tragedy comes from such a different place that we sometimes can’t see it at first. Take division. When God divides, it is always, always for our good. When man divides, it is almost always hurtful and comes from a self-interested place.

Some may at first reject the idea of God and division being in the same sentence. We are too used to division in the man-made way. Our division leaves a sister out of a group because she is annoying or has some other weakness we find unattractive. Our division leads to arguments about Scripture instead of reading it together with joy and weeping. Churches have split over these things. Man’s division leads to war, divorce, siblings who don’t speak, and fights in neighborhood HOAs.

God’s division amplifies. God divides seas to save lives and give His children safe passage. When God divided men at the Tower of Babel, He did so in order to assure their salvation. He did not want them to think they were God because He knew that fallacy would lead them to crash and burn. And when Elijah was led by the Spirit to ask a starving woman to divide the scant oil and flour she had left to feed him, he knew that God would amplify it into abundance, so much so that she had food for her son and herself for the months that remained in a terrible famine. The division between Paul and Barnabas led to two ministries instead of one, spreading the Gospel to even more people than if they had traveled together.  

God’s division leads us to the truth. When God gave Solomon the wisdom to suggest splitting the baby between two women claiming to be the mother, He knew it would illuminate the truth clearly and give the baby to the rightful, loving mother.  

God’s sometimes divides us from the things and people we love most in order to spare us, teach us, bless us, and grow our faith. It may seem counterintuitive that God will separate some people from their families for a season, a painful division. Separating from family was necessary to make Joseph into a powerful benefactor to his family later when he is the #2 ruler in Egypt. Ruth had to leave her entire family and childhood friends to follow Naomi. But that division was necessary to bring her into a marriage with a good man, a prosperous man, and to position her to be honored to be in the lineage of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Job was separated from his children, wealth and health, not because he was leading a sinful lifetstyle but because he was an example of loving God and living for Him. Out of his obedience, Job was given twice as much as before and a beautiful family.

What has God divided you from that you wanted to cling to? Can you see yet what might have been amplified through this painful experience? Has the division pressed you into Him, His Word, or prayer in a deeper way as you walked through it? Have you seen fruit in your life or your heart from it? Are you looking for the fruit to come? Has God’s division opened your eyes to some facet of Truth?

When God divides, ask Him to help you see it as a blessing or an intentional plan to grow you as Joseph did when he said to his disloyal brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:20)

Casey Hawley16 Comments