Praying for Unity

I recevied this text from a friend last night - who is a principal in a local school district:

Extra prayers please...my head is aching from all the stress of planning back to school. My teachers are very upset, our parents are confused, the students are no longer at the center of decision making, and my admin team is divided.

Besides being concerned for my friend - because I love her and I know she's doing her best and it saddens me that she is going through this stress - I couldn't help but recognize the picture she had just painted of our world.

Upset, confused, forgotten, and divided.

That's a pretty good summary of life-as-we-know-it, don't you think?
Seems to me just about everyone who has the breath of life in them could find themselves in one of those four categories. So as I prayed for my friend - as I asked God to give her grace and fill her with wisdom for each moment and every decision, that He might bring forth unity among her colleagues and in the community - I also prayed for unity in this world.
And I continue to pray for unity today.
Because more and more these days I am seeing division. I see people who are passionate about a position, who have good intentions, who want to see things get better and the world become stronger, who care about people, and who have a good heart. And I see others who are the same in all aspects - except the position about which they are passionate - and the two clash.
Arguing, belittling, judging, anger, and serious division ensue.
And suddenly we find ourselves in a world where fighting is the norm, bewilderment abounds, compassion is missing, and everyone thinks anyone who doesn't agree with them is wrong.
How, I ask, are we going to make any progress in a world marked by these qualities?

I don't believe we will.
I believe the division will ultimately break us.
And so, I pray for unity.
I pray the God who created this world will speak to His creation and transform our hearts. I pray He will give us a vision of what it looks like to love one another, of how we can serve our brothers and sisters, and of how we can live in unity. Ultimately, I believe this miracle will only take place when each one of us humbles ourselves, recognizes our need for God, and submits fully to Him.
Ah, LORD God, will You use the pain of our present circumstances to bring us to a place of repentance, that we might turn away from our own devices and seek YOU instead?

These longings in my heart for us to seek God and become united are echoed in a movement among many Christian brothers and sisters. If you have not yet heard about The Return, I encourage you to visit their website to learn more and to begin praying.