Divorce Connection to Children

The Bible is interconnected and interrelated. The story of Joseph for
example appears to be an historical account of the life of Joseph in the
book of Genesis. But upon closer examination, you find inserted into this
historical account, a brief moment of interesting detail on the life of
Judah and his daughter in laws deception which leads to her incestual
pregnancy. Judah of course is the line of Jesus, the promised Messiah. The
plan of God moves forward in the midst of insurmountable obstacles and
impossibilities. Redemption springs forth in the midst of the most sinful
and evil circumstance—God turns evil into good! There is nothing too
difficult for God.

But though God brings redemption, man brings pain, destruction, and shame to
his life and his family. And this brings me to my text this morning in the
book of Matthew chapter 19. The text focuses on divorce and remarriage. I
have studied this for years hoping that I could arrive at a position that
would allow for divorce. Why should people be forced to stay in marriages
that are just so unhappy and so empty? But then we could also ask the
question: Why do people get cancer and suffer? Why do children die? Why are some people falsely accused and lose everything? Why did Cory suffer so much under Hitler's regime? Why were Jim Eliott and friends speared to death? Paul in Corinthians 7 gives us an answer. Because we are "called!" He teaches us "therefore, in whatever state you have been called, remain
there." Do not try to escape difficult situations. They have been designed by God. Joseph understood this. They meant it for evil, but God intended it for good.

So in Matthew 19, they test Jesus by asking him if anyone can divorce for
any cause. Now you have to look beyond the so called "exception clause"
(except for fornication) and hear his words: I love how he responds: "Have
you not read?" I love it!!! So many today have really not studied what God
has said about divorce. In Malachi it is written that God "hates divorce."
Jesus continues in Matthew 19 and says to his testers, "What God has joined
together, let no man separate." That sounds pretty definitive. So they
question him about why Moses gave the law of divorce. Jesus responds simply
that "...from the beginning it was not so."

Whether you agree or disagree with my position on divorce, I would like you
to see a significant teaching on divorce that I have never heard taught. If
you read the next paragraph it reads, "Let the little children come to me
and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." Do you
see the interrelatedness and interconnectedness of Scripture? God has woven
together a masterpiece! Divorce is devastating and particularly so to
children. Even in secular studies it is a fact that children do better when
parents stay together, even in difficult marriages. And I'm not suggesting
that people become door mats or tolerate abuse that is illegal or immoral.
But, even in these relationships we need to do what it takes to bring
restoration and redemption, for we have been "called." Right on the heels
of Jesus' teaching on divorce, he brings little children to him...what
teaching! What a Master! The children! Do it for the children!!! Stay
together, our children are worth it.

The choice is ours. We can be like Joseph and become a deliverer for our
family or be like Judah and miss the opportunity, bringing shame and
dysfunction for generations to come. Life is not always fair or easy or
glamorous. It can be outright nasty...but in the end, we have a God in whom
nothing is impossible; a God who turns evil into good; a God who will
withhold no good thing from them who walk uprightly. It is worth it to
"stay in whatever state you have been called." Blessings and redemption will
be ours for generations to come if we do.

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