The Great Divide

The Great Divide

“He caused streams to flow from the rock,
and made the water flow like rivers.”
                                            Psalm 78:16

Whether you call it the Continental Divide or the Great Divide, the range of mountains that runs from northern Alaska, through Canada, the US and Mexico, and into Central America is a sure dividing line when it comes to the waters that flow down the mountains and out to the oceans. Everything from the snow melt in spring to the rain from summer thunderstorms that falls on the western slopes of the Great Divide, the Rocky Mountains as they’re most often called, ends up in the Pacific Ocean. And, conversely, that which falls on the eastern side of the Divide eventually makes it way to either the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico.

The fact about the Great Divide that has always amazed me is that two raindrops can fall only feet apart but one ends up in the Pacific Ocean and the other in the Atlantic.  What begins only a few feet apart ends up literally thousands of miles apart by the end of a long journey to the sea. In the natural, we can find ourselves in very similar situations to those around us. But we have to realize that the choices we make in life, and the attitudes we carry about, will determine where our journey ends. And that end can be vastly different depending on the direction we choose to go, God’s or our own, the Kingdom or the worlds.

Just as there are the windward and leeward sides of a mountain, with the windward side being more green and lush and the leeward side more dry and barren, so too which side we choose in the decisions of life will have greatly varying results. Those who consistently choose what pleases the Lord will find, at the end of their life, peace, blessing and an enduring satisfaction at having done the things that please the Lord. At the same time, those who live to please themselves will find the end of their journey filled with an emptiness and a void at having invested in treasures and pleasures that quickly fade away.

The raindrop that falls on the western side of the Great Divide will never find its way to the Atlantic Ocean; it just doesn’t work that way. The person who chooses the ways of the world over God’s ways never ends up happy and secure; it just doesn’t work that way. The person who lives for themselves, to please themselves and not God, never finds spiritual prosperity and favor awaiting them at journey’s end; it just doesn’t work that way. But live your life on God’s side, choosing what pleases the Lord, regardless of the consequences, and “goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life”; it most certainly works that way!

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church