Prodigals!

June 24, 2021

Prodigals!

She is lost as lost can be.  She is trying her best but struggles to fit in.  There are few people she would call a friend.  She floats from one relative to another every week for a place to sleep.  She puts on a happy face but cannot disguise the pain of not feeling loved. 

She is a prodigal. 

She wanders through life and always wonders about her life.  There are moments of joy but they are always temporary.  The things people suggest will help rarely make any difference.  She is a wounded soul whose future has very little hope and the possibility of much more harm coming her way.

She is a prodigal.

Why doesn’t her mother love her?  Why did her father abandon her?  Why do her friends reject her?  Is there no place and no one who will accept her and welcome her and love her?  Will there ever be any kind of homecoming for her?

She is a prodigal.

Prodigals walk down an extraordinarily difficult path in life.  Rejection, jealousy, and abandonment inflict deep hurt in their heart.  A lack of love, a lack of forgiveness, and a lack of acceptance inflict a soul-deep loneliness.  Where can the prodigals turn for what their heart longs most?

Prodigals must pay attention to their loneliness, their restlessness, and their anxiousness.  Although the journey is not easy nor is it short, they will come to acknowledge that they are vulnerable and sad and lonely in a way most other people do not know nor understand.

The good news is Jesus understands.  Jesus tells the story of a young man who was on the journey of a prodigal.  Even while he is surrounded by a loving family and many friends, there is something inside of him that feels like a prodigal. 

So, he leaves family and friends.  He leaves a comfortable life and security.  He leaves a predictable future and a predetermined role to play.  Like most prodigals, he does not leave in the best way; he inflicts hurt and harm and heart-ache on those who love him. 

He goes to live in a far-away place where nothing is predictable and pre-determined, where nothing is safe and secure, where no one cares and no one shares.  The loneliness, restlessness, and anxiousness from which he was trying to get away remain just as deep in this new life. 

Like most prodigals, he becomes devastated and disillusioned.  He responds by re-tracing his prodigal journey back to his father’s love.  In Luke 15:20 we hear; “But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.”         

The father in Jesus’ story is a picture of our Heavenly Father rushing to find us, welcome us, and love us.  Every prodigal longs to be found, to be welcomed, and to be loved by other people and ultimately by our Heavenly Father. 

When that moment occurs there is great celebration and great delight.  In Luke 15:23-24 we hear the father say; “’…let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’  And they began to celebrate.” 

You may know someone who is a prodigal.  I encourage you to continue praying for them.  If you can, I invite you to visit with them.  Share with them the good news that our Heavenly Father is rushing to find them, welcome them, and love them like no one else can. 

It may take a while…a long while for them to come back.  But when they return from their prodigal journey, rejoice and celebrate with them and take delight in the Lord!

Take delight in the Lord!

Doug