The Lord works in mysterious ways which at times are beyond our understanding! Sometimes the very thing that was a blessing last time, it becomes a curse this time. This is why we can’t create formulas out of God’s ways, but we need to relate to God properly and allow Him to lead us!
Scattering is one of those areas that God has used both as a blessing and as a punishment in the Biblical history.
Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:1-4
The people had much in common, so they decided to have a joint venture by building a city and making a tower together. It almost sounds like these people were bored, and somebody came up with a bright idea! They probably thought to themselves, “Since we have all this material, let’s build a tower!” Building the tower wasn’t the main problem, there were deeper issues that God had to address:
1. They were trying to reach the heavens.
The problem was that their approach wasn’t going to get them to their desired goal. They had a good goal but wrong method for trying to achieve it. They were seeking God on their own terms and with their own self-effort. We see this all around us. People follow various religions and philosophies and do all kinds of works trying to get to heaven.
2. They desired to make a name for themselves.
People who are in search of significance can go to great lengths to be impressive or make themselves known. These people had the ambition to reach the heavens and to be impressive.
Some are willing to sacrifice their marriages and/or their children at the altar of making a name for themselves. That could be in their jobs where they are pursuing the next promotion. It could be in their social circles by trying to maintain a certain lifestyle that stresses the marriage and the finances. Nowadays, we have superstars in the spiritual circles. Some think unless they are known, they haven’t really reached the spiritual pinnacle of success.
3. They didn’t want to get scattered.
God chooses to gather people together for a purpose and then He scatters them at His timing. When the Lord was about to judge the whole earth, He told Noah to gather his family in the Ark. That was for a short time and for a specific purpose.
If it’s time to scatter, but we fight it or avoid it, we are actually causing more harm than we are producing good. Generally, relationships stay healthy for a season and then the Lord changes the nature of the relationships. We need to be willing to go with God where He wants to take the relationship rather than holding on to our comfort. Otherwise the relationship will begin to become toxic and have an adverse affect on those who are part of it.
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.