The Garden by Jon Gordon

Author:Jon Gordon [Gordon, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781119430667
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2020-06-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Divide

Mr. Erwin stood up without using the crutches that were by his side. He asked Jay to stand next to the Tree of Life and Kay to stand next to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. “Evil's ultimate goal is to divide us and separate us from God,” he said. He distracts, discourages, distorts, and creates doubt so that we will be divided from God, divided from each other and from ourselves.

Mr. Erwin then instructed Jay and Kay to take a step away from the trees and from each other towards the perimeter of the garden. He continued, “Every time you doubt God, every time you believe the lie, every time you get discouraged, and every time you get distracted you will feel further away and more disconnected from God and the people you love. Did you know the word ‘anxious’ literally means divided?” he asked.

He looked at Kay, who was tapping her foot on the ground. Kay looked down at her foot and for the first time realized that she was doing it.

“Is that why I'm so anxious and stressed all the time?” she asked.

“It's not the only reason,” said Mr. Erwin “but it's the main reason. It's what leads to the other reasons. I'm sure you can't sleep and probably have elevated levels of stress hormones called cortisol and have developed physical and mental symptoms of anxiety and stress, but at the core of it all is the fact that you feel divided, which leads to feelings of being alone, anxious, fearful, and stressed.

“After Adam and Eve ate the fruit because of doubt, distortion, discouragement, and distraction, they were then divided from God. They felt afraid and ashamed and guilty. They actually hid from God, which is what so many do then they make bad choices. They don't run to God. They hide from Him, and as a result they feel separate and disconnected and this leads to anxiety, fear, and stress and a host of other problems.

“Why does evil want to divide us?” asked Jay.

“Because that's what evil does,” said Mr. Erwin as he grabbed a leaf from the tree and ripped it in half. “It divides in order to defeat.”

He then let go of both halves of the leaf and watched them fall to the ground. “Unfortunately, evil is very good at dividing and defeating us. Just look at the world today and you can see more division than ever. More people are feeling divided from God and themselves. They are dealing with stress, fear, and anxiety and giving up as a result. More families are being divided by divorce. People feel more separated from each other even though they have more ways to connect than ever. The enemy is having a field day dividing our country politically, racially, and every way possible.

“Evil is causing many to look at what makes them different instead of what they have in common. When you look at the world's problems, so many believe the lie that they are separate from each other when actually we are all one.

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