Strife
Strife
Isaiah 59:8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
We are living in a very confused world. Most young people I deal with have little to no guidance on what it takes to build a life. They have been lied to by the spirit of this world, the media and its idols. Their values are useless in guiding their future. By the grace of God, many of us have come out of this desolation ourselves. Although we have been rescued by our loving God, we still had to unlearn these fruitless ways. This article is part one of a miniseries to build up the things that were broken.
Have you ever been in a situation where you tried to get your point across and to you surprise the whole thing blew up into a big argument? You leave feeling misunderstood, angry, and unhappy about what happened. Strife divides, drains, and zaps whatever joy you might have started your day with. Organizations, families, friends and even churches have separated because the strain of strife. The sad part is that in most cases the pain and stress strife caused was never intended. It sort of sprung up on us and we never saw it coming. But there is hope. As Christians we have the promise of God, that he would lead us in a way of peace. So, we want to get away from strife.
What is strife? Doing a quick google search the following definition pops up.
An angry or bitter disagreement over fundamental issues; conflict.
I guess everyone has a conflict once in a while. It can't be avoided. But what if this becomes a daily event? Well, it is a part of the fleshly man. For Christians it means we must dig deep into the ground of our hearts, as the roots of the strife are buried way below the symptomatic surface.
James 3:13-16
“Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation his works, with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.“
Meditate on that scripture. It communicates to us the cause, origin, and solution for the problem strife. If we identify the cause, we can turn from it, and without repentance there is no remission of sins.
However, God does not strike us down for every wrong thing that grows out of the garden of our hearts. He has ordained teachers, and preachers and other parts of the five-fold ministry to bring Christians to maturity, who with longsuffering and patience work in the fields of God. Look at the example of Moses, who outside of Jesus himself was the greatest leader in the Bible. He was burdened with the care and strife of the people while fulfilling the call to bring them to the promised land.
In Deuteronomy 1:12 Moses said,
“How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?”
In spite of great miracles, signs, and wonders showing that God had chosen Moses to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt, many of the people did not submit to him gracefully. The Israelites envied the leadership position seeing only its perks, but they did not really understand the basis for godly leadership. God had prepared Moses for the task for many long years. He wanted his leader to have the ability to bring his people to God's promises. Moses led for God and stood in place of God, so the people would be able to hear and follow God’s directions to freedom. He did not lead on his own behalf. He served God. Yet, Moses was weighed down by the heavy burdens, cumbrance, and strife of the people.
We find the same problem challenging every position of leadership in every area of life. And make no mistake, without submission to God, there are many fatalities in groups of peoples, organizations, and families. But there is hope. I think one of the greatest examples of strife and redemption we find in Luke 22. Can you believe that during the last supper the disciples were striving among themselves about who was going to be the greatest? Did Jesus let go of them? No, he didn't. Strife is common to us. Strife is part of our fallen nature. It is up to mature Christian men and women to foster and teach the way of peace.
The Way of Peace
Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist prophesied that God visited his people to bless with a number of blessings among which was the following:
Luke 1:79
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
We have hope. Our lives are to be guided by peace. Even in marriages God wants us to have peace. (1 Corinthians 7:15)
In upcoming lessons I will break down common areas of strife and the solutions provided in the word to overcome.