How Did We Get Here?

How Did We Get Here? It's a question we ask when we look around and see so much division, confusion, and chaos in the world. How did we become so separated from one another?

It didn't happen overnight.

The enemy wants division. God wants unity. And division doesn't usually begin with something big. It starts with little things. Little disagreements. Little offenses. Little steps away from one another.

One step becomes another. And another.

Before long, those little steps become bigger steps. But here's the problem. We get so accustomed to the distance that we don't even recognize it anymore. What once seemed like a big step away from God or from one another now feels like a little one.

And we keep going.

Until one day, we look around and wonder how everything became so chaotic. How did we get so far from where we were supposed to be?

One hour at a time. One day at a time. One step at a time.

And how do we find our way back?

The answer is simple. But we have a way of making simple things complicated.

God tells us in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that if His people will humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways, He will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

But first, we have to humble ourselves.

We have to stop looking at everything that separates us and remember what brings us together.

Baptist. Methodist. Presbyterian. Married. Divorced. Young. Old. Disabled. Republican. Democrat.

We have created so many categories, so many reasons to stand apart from one another.

But when God spoke of His church, He wasn't talking about one denomination standing over here and another standing over there.

He was talking about His people.

All of us.

Standing side by side.

We don't have to agree on everything to love one another. We don't have to share the same background, the same experiences, or the same opinions to recognize that we all need God's grace.

And maybe that's where healing begins.

Not by pointing fingers. Not by deciding who belongs and who doesn't. But by getting on our knees, humbling ourselves before God, and remembering that we were never meant to do this alone.

Division happens one step at a time.

So does coming back together.

One step toward forgiveness. One step toward understanding. One step toward loving our neighbor.

One church. One God. Standing together.

Pastor Richard “Snake” Ertel
Convicted 4 Christ Ministries