When Your Family is Divided

Division in families is nothing new until it hits your family. It tears into the heart at breakneck speeds. Suddenly, your advice for others takes on a new meaning as your emotions swirl and rocks your foundational faith. Our culture is testing even further with this crazy idea of cancel culture. The biblical truth is that we cannot just cancel out people when God has woven our lives together as a family.

As a child of God, how do we respond and survive amid division within our family? How do we manage rejection from others? And how do we relate to those who have distanced themselves from us? Excellent questions that deserve more space than what we have here. So, we will touch on those topics a little bit to remember that in the Lord, there is hope!

A powerful Scripture for your arsenal is Proverbs 22:6 “Dedicate your children to God and point them in the way that they should go, and the values they’ve learned from you will be with them for life” (TPT).

What we miss within that proverb is the underlying assumption that there will be problems. But even with that, our responsibility is to plant seeds, pointing them in the right and Godly direction. If we plant good seeds into their life, we have a promise that it is there, they cannot get rid of it, and we can trust God with the outcome. However, that is easier said than done.

What can we do to survive?

1. Ask the Lord to search your heart (Ps. 139:23-24) and deal with anything Holy Spirit brings to your attention.
   1. Remember, when Holy Spirit shines a light on something, it is ALWAYS an invitation for healing.
2. Do not be drawn into the drama
3. Ask yourself whether you need to be right more than you desire a relationship.
4. Learn how to pray in a way that aligns with the heartbeat of the Father
5. Be wise yet harmless in your pursuit of the individual (Matt. 10:16)
   1. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s direction and timing.

Finally, take time to breathe! God cares more about this individual than you do. And He is all-knowing and amazingly wise. When you take time to lean back into Him, you will be amazed at what He will show you and how He will direct you. But it takes steadfast focus and faith to join him in moving the mountain erected from a division within your family.

Ruth Hendrickson is an ordained pastor, itinerant speaker, ministry trainer and board-certified biblical counselor who has extensive experience in the development, training and oversight of emotional healing ministry teams, recovery ministries, prophetic ministry, prayer ministries and women’s ministry. In addition, she is a course facilitator for Patricia King Institute and Charisma courses. She writes for Elijah List and Charisma and has a podcast titled Real Truth with Ruth. Through biblically based teachings and practical applications infused with love and laughter, her goal is to introduce people not only to the living God who saves, but also to the God who desires an intimate relationship with each one of us. Her books Positioned – How to be Aligned & Empowered to Walk in Your Diving Destiny and Everyday Prophetic will help you grow in your walk with God. Ruth is an avid unsweetened iced tea drinker who loves warm weather, palm trees and beaches. She believes that she should live in the South. However, in the meantime Ruth and her husband Mark reside in Stockton, New Jersey.