Faith for the Prodigal
“True faith is that which marks a beginning, but you keep it active by your actions. True faith keeps on believing right on to the very end.” ~Stephen Potter
Do we have true faith? Can we continue to believe and trust when the situation looks hopeless? Thinking today about faith and trust I wonder at times about my own. Marsha, the mother of missionaries to Africa, told me a couple of months ago, that “many people don’t have faith to pray for a situation for the long haul”. We can’t see the end. We don’t know the answer. Are we still going to believe for what we can’t see? Are we willing to say to Him, Lord, I don’t know what You are doing in this child of mine’s life….but I have faith in You and I trust that this child I gave back to You when she was born is under Your watchful eye. The child. No matter how old they grow to be, they will always be your child. They are being watched.
However, the child has a will. To do right or wrong. To choose good over evil. The choice is a gift God gave to each of us. We have the right to determine which path to take. The wide one that looks easy as pie? Or the narrow, winding, sometimes even treacherous road that at times has a fog on it so thick you can’t see your hand in front of you. That’s the road that is toughest in the here and now. But it’s the “then” —the “eternal” that we are trusting for . It’s what we are believing for.
When you give birth to that precious little babe, they don’t come with a tag like washing instructions….”pre-shrunk—will not shrink, machine wash gentle cycle, no bleach, tumble dry low, iron medium heat if necessary”. There is no label that says, “rebellious, firm hand, but loving, sniff clothes regularly”.
It is hard to say—or point to a day when the loving child turns into the prodigal. The one that wants to take all his or her possessions and leave for “the better life”. Humph. Better indeed.
The passage labeled as the “Parable of the Lost Son”, has a few verses I want to point out. You know the story by heart. But read this:
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Luke 15:17-20 NIV (emphasis mine)
While he was still a long way off. The KJV says “great way off”. In my minds eye, I see that father. I think the father watched the roadway every day with “expectation”. Not only did he desire his son to come home, he expected him to come home. He wasn’t sure what condition he would arrive in. But he knew he would come home. In the deepest part of his heart, he knew that at some point he would reach the end of himself, and that his selfish ways would bring him to his knees. Right smack-dab in the middle of the pig pen.
I believe he watched expectantly for years. I don’t think the prodigals funds were lost in a week. Not even a month. I believe it was years. The Bible clearly tells us what the “lost son” was doing —but until the son arrives back home in a state of shame…the only thing we know that the father did while his son was away…was watch and wait. I think he watched everyday. The Bible makes no comment about the mother of the son. She may not have even been living. But if she was, I like to believe, that while the father was outside watching the roadway, the mother was inside on her knees praying for the child to find the right road home.
Sometimes the mother does both. Watching and praying for each prodigal to make it home.
Oh, by the way, go ahead and get their garments ready, get the family ring shined. Get the bathtub set, the water just right, soaps, towels all in place. For isn’t that him? Coming just now, down the road?
Father, my heart cries out to You for each prodigal. I was one. You, O Lord have never turned Your back on one seeking You. You have lavished us with Your love and attention. May we each love our own prodigals as You have loved us. With compassionate love. Forgiving love. Merciful love. Teach us Your ways O Lord. I praise Your holy name for all that You are, all that You desire to be in me, and all that You are bringing to pass in our lives for Your glory. In Your holy name I pray~Amen.
Wonderful post, my friend. Faith for the prodigal is also part of my story. Yes, my daughter is in Africa, but my youngest, my son, is prodical and has been for several years. He’s made tremendous strides in the past year, I’m sure he’s on his way back home. I see his faint outline on the distant horizon.
I love the picture you paint of the prodical’s mother inside on her knees. I’m sure there were times she was on her face as well, tears in her eyes, beseeching the Father and then putting her ear to the ground. Just listening for the faint sound of the feet she used to kiss when they were little.
Thank you for your faith filled, long haul prayers for so many of us!
I took a dive into the pig pen for a season. It was fun for awhile, but what started out as “fun” soon became my cloaking shame…my covering of mud. God called to me from the pit…called me home. Not just in a spiritual sense, but also in a very literal sense. I packed my car…my two sons…and we headed home to the arms of my mother and father who ran to meet me and who spoke God’s grace over my pitiful estate. Thus, the beginning of my return to all things sacred.
I’ve lived the life of a prodigal. Thankfully, I no longer crave the mud’s embrace. Every now and then, I notice a little dirt still under my fingernails…a thorn of sorts. A reminder to me of just how much my sin cost my Father. His arms spanned far and wide–stretching across a Judean hillside on a bed of surrender…calling my home. Calling me his.
He still reaches. He still calls. He still waits in eager anticipation for his children to come home. He has kept watch for me, and by the grace of his magnificent love, I rest this day in his embrace.
Thanks be to God for the gift of my salvation. He is everything to me.
peace~elaine
Thank you for this devotion. I have two prodigal sons. Both of these boys were on my mind and heart so much that I could not sleep last night. I feel your devotion was God’s way of telling me he hears my prayers and he is in control. I keep watching and have been for seven years. It took 25 years for my husband and I am not about to give up on my boys. I know in my heart God will answer the prayers I have prayed for them. Have a blessed week.
Love and Prayers,
Angela
Beautiful, Angie. Absolutely beautiful
I, too, have prodigals (more than one) and while I watch and wait, I sometimes cry and travail. Sounds like you know the mother’s heart very well. Thank you for this encouraging post. We will RUN to meet our prodigal on the day he/she comes home, and throw our arms around their necks with great joy!
Amen to that, Angie. I think at one point or another we all become a prodigal. I know that I was – and someone prayed for me to the Lord. He so loves for all of us to repent and return to Him – the giver of life.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us – have a blessed break 🙂
Thank you my friend for being such a woman of prayer, faith, and Gods love.
Oh girl….you do amaze me…your perspective. I’ve done studies on this passage…and I’ve thought about the detail you mention…it wasn’t DAYS that he was gone, not WEEKS, MONTHS, but likely years….
I’m saving this..I pray that I don’t have to WATCH expectantly, but with 3 you just don’t know the choices they will make when they have wings to fly….
You are ALWAYS spot on….with your timing…and your wisdom and perspective….THIS is one of my favorites!!
SEE, another reason to have a SPARKLING CLEAN TUB….you never know!!
😉 love you!
lori
Lord knows I had my prodigal times, I guess as parents we just wish our kids would learn without taking the hard road. For as parents you journey with them, but it is so painful because you can not choose the road for them. But as you say prayer is the most powerful thing we can do, and wait with anticipation.
And for the prodigal mom who’s heart has chosen to go away from the Lord, and yet He welcomes her back with all His love and tender mercies. She has been bet up by sin, and He gently leads her back to Him with is loving hand. “Thank you, Lord for Your agape love to me! Show me the way of unconditional love in my life for all those around me.”
Please enter me.
Angie this is such a beautiful post. Thanks for encouraging us not to give up on those we are praying for.
Angie, Girl, you are priceless…
he expected him to come home….. Oh, Ang, as a former radical prodigal child, this post is so powerful. I know my own son is right were I was 20 years ago. The amazing thing is God will bring him home. I will just pray it through.
Wonderful Post.