Do you know that God uses conflict to His end? 1 Kings 10-13

1 Kings 12:24 (NASBStr)

‘Thus says the Lord, “You must not go up and fight against your relatives the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, for this thing has come from Me.”’” So they listened to the word of the Lord, and returned and went their way according to the word of the Lord.

After Solomon's death we see his son, Rehoboam become king.   However, because of Solomon's sin with so many women and with their gods, God took the majority of the kingdom away from Rehoboam and gave it to the man Jeroboam.   This was the division of the kingdom into Israel AND Judah.   In the midst of this separation, Rehoboam wanted to keep the kingdom one and set out to fight and, hopefully, destroy Jeroboam.    This is were the above verse comes into the context.   God intervenes and tells Rehoboam that this separation was from Him and that Rehoboam need not try to fight Jeroboam.   The lesson here for us is hard.   It is hard that the God of Peace actually allows conflict as part of His plan.    Yet, this is what God did and does.  God uses the selfishness we have in us to ultimately accomplish His purpose.   God used the wickedness of a band of marauders to destroy Job's family and possessions to accomplish His end for Job.   God used the evilness in the hearts of religious leaders to have His Son crucified.   As we enter a conflict we need to recognize that God may be using it to accomplish a greater purpose.  We should seek peace and we should seek to restore peace (we are ministers of reconciliation).   However, we are also to recognize that the conflict might be from God for the purpose of discipline; or, to simply accomplish HIs greater plan.