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~The Great Divide~

by Shannon Heiden  
1/21/2009 / Devotionals


"Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful." Zig Ziglar

The Great Barrier Reef, stretches some 1,800 miles from New Guinea to Australia. Visitors from all around the world come to visit this great wonder. There are tour guides daily taking visitors to view the awesome reef. On one tour, the guide was asked an interesting question. "I notice that the lagoon side of the reef looks pale and lifeless, while the ocean side is vibrant and colorful," a traveler observed. "Why is this?"

The guide gave an interesting answer: "The coral around the lagoon side is in still water, with no challenge for its survival. It dies early. The coral on the ocean side is constantly being tested by wind, waves, and storms-surges of power. It has to fight for survival every day of its life. As it is challenged and tested it changes and adapts. It grows healthy, strong and it reproduces."

Beautiful One, there is not a single person on this earth that has not faced difficulty or hardship. The Word of God tells us that the righteous man or woman will have many troubles. The question is, how will you respond when confronted with it?

I am a woman who has been well acquainted with many troubles and trials during my life. Not to say that I am unique in my sufferings, but there was a time when I was so focused upon myself that I honestly did think I was the only one who was going through pain. Usually when we go through adversity, we tend to be shortsighted and turn inward instead of embracing the lessons that "challenges" can teach us.

Our trials are meant to be our teachers. They can either define or destroy us. Faith really isn't faith until it is challenged. For only then do we really get to see what it is made up of.

Isn't it funny that when we think of the Christian life there is this unspoken expectation within us that everything should just go our way? I know that sounds selfish, but if we as Christians didn't think this way then why are so many skipping out on assembling ourselves on Sunday mornings? Why are so many hurt and offended by a brother or sister causing them to completely disengage from the Christian community? Some are present physically, but they come late and leave early. They refuse to get connected because they choose to remain guarded. When they feel like the food they are being fed isn't as satisfying, they move on to greener pastures. Or so they think....

How about our marriages? Why are so many falling apart? Why are we hearing more and more couples say they "just aren't going the same direction anymore?" That tells us something right there; they are both off. If we didn't have this expectation that everything should go our way, then why are people having affairs? Living together outside of marriage? Having sexual relations before marriage? Dropping this one and "hooking up" with that one, leaving one mess and creating an even bigger one with someone new. Yes, the grass is greener on the other side... you know why? Because, someone over there was tending to theirs while we neglected ours.

The truth is, either someone won't repent or someone won't forgive; that is why we are seeing more and more people fall away from our churches and more marriages ending in divorce.

How about our children? Being a parent these days in no easy task. With every new generation comes new trials and temptations, as well as all of the old ones. Never before have we had so many absentee fathers, broken homes, drug use, and sexual promiscuity. What about our jobs? We live in a dog-eat-dog world where every man is for himself. People measure success by what we do, have, and drive. The truth remains that adversity is intertwined with our communities. It is not so much "can we all get along in our successes," but "can we live together with our failures and shortcomings?"

One thing that can help us keep a proper perspective is to remember that man is fallible. I recently had a conversation with a friend who has avoided church all of his life because his parents had been hurt by others. He felt like Christians were hypocrites and "doesn't want to be a part of all that mess." My friend is correct in what he said but he left something out.

You see, at some point we are all hypocrites! We all have judged another for something we have either done ourselves or said. When it was you that struggled, you just had a weakness, but when it was someone else...well, that was a different story. The only difference between us as Christians and the world is, that we have access to God and his amazing power to overcome. We also are accepted, loved, and forgiven. But we still have the same struggles and shortcomings as everyone else.

Where do all the people in the church come from? Where does your Pastor come from? The same place as you and everyone else. The street. You found your spouse on the street. Somewhere on someday you met your husband or wife on some street.

And depending on where you were on your own journey with God, you met on different levels. Through the process of time and familiarity, setbacks and successes, you either grew together or apart. Now take the two of you together with all of your failures and successes and walk straight into a church and connect with others just like you. Here we are: broken, addicted, happy, sad, grieving, growing, angry, content, confused, spiteful, deceitful, hurting, shy, obnoxious, faithful; all of us, a bunch of misfits, connecting together, each on different levels.

And we wonder why relationships take work and love needs to be in operation at all times. The truth is; "wherever there are people, there are problems."

If you are a parent you know this is true. If you are married, you definitely know it. If you have a job, tell me there isn't any conflict...

Beautiful One, adversity and conflict is an absolute in life. We don't like it nor do we welcome it, but it is a "for sure thing." When challenges arise, how do we handle them? Do we get fearful? Faithful? Spiteful? Maybe, we avoid? Since we don't know how to handle conflict effectively, maybe when something hard happens, we shrink back and off. But we must realize that if we silence the voice and wisdom God provides, we could end up sick in our body and bitter because we're just tired of "taking peoples stuff."

What about those of us who constantly rescue others? Our hearts may be in the right place but we fail to see that sometimes others need to live with their choices and consequences. For if they don't, they will always look for someone to rescue them out of their messes, they will never learn to take responsibility, grow up, and be productive members of the Kingdom. Ultimately every one of us will have to go to God. He is the only one who can truly help us out of our troubles, for He is the only one with the right perspective and He knows all the details.

What I love about the Barrier Reef is that the side that faces adversity is the side that is beautiful. Although it experiences challenges daily, those challenges create an atmosphere and environment that is healthy, strong, resilient and life giving.The side that is still and has no challenges is just dark, complacent, and stagnant.

So which side are you?

Do you seek to save your life from troubles and hardships?...or are you allowing the adversity in your life to strengthen you, and push you into a deep, life-giving atmosphere, where you will grow up and produce beautiful things?

Beautiful One, the Word of God is sharper than any double edged sword. It divides between joints and marrows, between soul and spirit, and it separates the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. (Hebrews 4:12) It is the "Great Divide!" Christ himself set his disciples up in adversity. Jesus sent his disciples out to sea to face a storm while he lingered in the background on the shore. He wasn't being mean or trying to scare them. Jesus knew there was a lesson for them to learn about "trust" and only the storm could teach it to them.

Jesus wanted his disciples to know that even in the darkest of nights when things were hard, when tears easily flowed, there was no storm that God did not know was coming their way. There was no attitude or thought that God couldn't penetrate with peace. And the same is true for us. There is nothing on this earth that you could ever face that God cannot come and meet you as he separates the sheep from the goats and the wheat from the tares in our lives.

The awesome thing about the sword of "Great Divide," is we get to decide! Strength, resiliency, and hope?... or complacent, mediocre and stale? Will we get better through our trials...or bitter? Will we praise him or reject him? Will we run to the house of the Lord with our brethren or will we run away? Will we submit to our Master Divider, or will we Divide Him into pieces that suit us?

Beautiful One, just believe. Where will you stand on the "Great Divide?

Shannon Heiden
[email protected]
changingonelifereachingmany.typepad.com

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