I Did Not Come to Bring Peace, But a Sword

Matthew 10:34-36 and Micah 7:6
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies will be the members of his own household.

I've read these verses all my life and wondered what they could mean. How could Jesus have even spoken these words? Isn't He all about unity and family?

Finally I have had to accept that His words are true for me. I always imagined it would be other families, perhaps those of other cultures, who experienced this great division and pain. But now I realize these words were written for a time of the future - and the time is here.  Our abiding faith in Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah and Savior of our souls, is a sword dividing families. Even the nation we live in now appears to be overcome by the world.

On the 41st birthday of my oldest child I was greatly moved to write him a letter and send him a book, my heart filled with hope that I could somehow finally reach him so that I would not have to face living in eternal life without him. I've witnessed often to him and his children and they have nodded with disinterested hearts, moving the conversation quickly to something else. But his birthday this year fell on Yom Kippur and I knew I would be in Israel that day, interceding for him with all my heart and soul. So I wrote words that sprang from my inner-most being, filled and anointed by the Spirit, and sent with a hope-filled heart.

On Thanksgiving Day we finally talked, and he finally drew the line and plainly instructed me not to speak of my faith anymore to him and his family. He let me know in no uncertain terms that he does not need or want a God.

For a day I wept. Tears just wouldn't stop. But finally I got my journal and sat with Abba Father and asked Him to speak something to me to help me move on, despite this pain. I have decided I needed to write this to all of you, because I am pretty sure I'm not the only one needing this word God gave me:

1 John 4:5-6
They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world and the world listens to them. We are from God and whoever knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of falsehood.

I raised this child of mine in the Truth. But he has made a decision in the spirit of falsehood - so right now he cannot hear me. But perhaps that is right now.  Perhaps it isn't the end of the story.

Micah 7:7-8
But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD. I wait for God my Savior. My God will hear me.