God does not abandon anyone. It is God who is abandoned. Even when Scripture describes God as turning His face away, this is actually the reluctant and painful acknowledgement of humanity’s decision to cross the point of no return in its relationship with God.
God never tires of loving. His love cannot be diverted or disappointed to the point of fading away. Nor can it be wounded to the point of turning into indifference, or worse, hatred and contempt. On the contrary, God’s love transcends the bounds of reciprocity and exists in the realm of grace. It manifests itself abundantly, offering itself again and again, driven by His very nature.
The Christian God’s uniqueness lies in His divergence from the traditional image of ancient gods as being capricious, inflexible, despotic, hard to please, and genuinely disinterested in the fate of mortals. In a comforting contrast, the God of the Bible is, above all else, deeply concerned for the fate of His creation. His steadfast and inspiring love is the central theme of the Bible and the key to interpreting passages relating to marriage and divorce.
Far from placing us within the realm of an inflexible, antiquated God, the divine plan for marriage does not include divorce because it belongs to the realm of sin—the virus that defiles God’s creation. Although, in His providential wisdom, God tolerates it while His grace seeks our restoration, nothing about divorce can be associated with God. God has a natural aversion to divorce, just as He does to sin. Under no circumstances will He ever be able to incorporate them into His plan, regardless of their forms or motives, because they are alien to His nature and harmful by their very nature. God aims to remove from the universe anything that is alien to the nature of His love.
People often make choices out of fear or under the influence of a belief that what they see is the whole reality. They may also be convinced that they have understood the situation and that there is no other option. The Bible constantly calls us to accept that we have no need to fear if we place ourselves in God’s hands; that it is worthwhile and indeed necessary to always seek to see reality through His eyes; to walk in faith; and to do His will.
The experience of marriage is perhaps the most intimate illustration of the experience of salvation. No one can be saved without faith; likewise, no marriage can be saved without faith. The grace that delivers us from spiritual and physical death has the power to prevent the death of love, or to revive it.
Norel Iacob is the editor-in-chief of ST Network.