DIVORCE IS NOT GOD'S ORIGINAL PLAN FOR MARRIAGE

We know of natural disasters and we think it is the worst disasters that ever happened to humanity. In my own view, divorce or marital disaster is the worst disaster on earth. One of the worst disaster the world is experiencing is not earthquake neither is it tsunami. It is the tsunami of divorce. Globally, it has assumed a new dimension. Some 2.2 million marriages and almost 1 million divorces took place in the EU in 2016 according to a report. According to the UN, the country with the highest divorce rate in the world is the Maldives with 10.97 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants per year. As at February 28, 2020, it was reported in one of the media outlets that between January and February, a total of 4, 000 divorce applications were reportedly filed before various courts in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja- Nigeria. We may not have the divorce statistics of others African countries but we know the story is almost thesame everywhere. A woman once told me to pray God so that her divorce process in court would hasten. That's how bad it has become in today's world.

I once saw on the internet ladies celebrating a divorce party with a friend. They celebrated a 'disaster' without shame. Men and women have sunk so low to disparage and desecrate this holy institution. Some singles are afraid to marry because of what they've seen in the marriages of those they look up to. More so, some are entering into marriage with this idea of: 'If it doesn't work out, i'll walk out'. That's an anti-bible mentality. Divorce is against the original plan of God for the marriage union. Even Jesus made it clear to the Pharisees that divorce wasn't God's original plan from the beginning when the Pharisees asked if a man could put away his wife away for any cause: "The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?...He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: BUT FROM THE BEGINNING IT WAS NOT SO."( Mt 19:3‭, ‬8 KJV). Divorce is a deviation from God's original plan for marriage.

Marriage is not a western idea where people opt in and out any how. God instituted it and he expect that each union should last till death part the couples. I understand that there are reasons people give or even adduce to scriptures as valid grounds for divorce but Christ teaches forgiveness and patience. The negative impact of divorce can be generational. I have seen this happen to children and even adults of over 40&50 years who are still bitter about their parent's divorce while they were young. The bitter memory lingers. The kind of trauma and pain children from divorced parents go through is such that may not heal in a life time. This I know from children who are from divorced homes. Some scholars opined that children from divorced homes are likely to divorce their spouse. In reality, I've found this to be true in about 90% of broken marriages that I know. When children are raised in turbulent homes where the father or mother walks out at will, they may grow up thinking it is the right thing to do when things aren't working. A generation must break that negative trend. Are you considering a divorce? Be patient with God to resolve all issues threatening the peace of your home. Decide to stay in your marriage and make it work as long as your life is not under threat. There is no problem without a solution. God can restore the joy of your marriage.