Tag: Patience

The Prodigal – When The Father Ran.

~ Sowmya Gali

Luke 15: 20

So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

We are familiar with the parable of the prodigal son. Even though Jesus was addressing the Jews at the time, he had every prodigal on His mind. The Jewish people were the ones who received God’s special blessing, the inheritance and the special privilege of being called as His own. God loves everyone equally but the Jews were the apple of His eye. The descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were indeed a chosen group of people.

Jesus, in his narrative of the prodigal son, reveals to the people about the heart of our Heavenly Father. When the prodigal son comes to his senses in the far away land, after spending all his inheritance on wild living, his first thoughts were of his father. He wondered if his father would even accept him back. Even if he didn’t accept him back, he would hire himself out to his father as one of his servants just so he could have a decent meal. With such thoughts, the son made his way home.

What keeps the prodigal away? Pride and ego could be the major factors. They have defied the truth and went away pursuing other truths. However, the ultimate Truth is always ringing in their ears. However much they would like to stifle the Truth, it still rings deafeningly loud.  Their initial quarrel with their loved ones was that they were right and the others were wrong. Now when they have realized that the people who loved him/her were right all along, it is difficult to accept it and return with humility. In such state, they are going through much stress, which in some cases has led to anxiety and depression. In some severe cases, it has led to suicide. Humbling oneself is a very bitter pill to swallow.

In some cases, confusion plays a major role. If the person hasn’t been exposed to the Word of God in it’s true light, then the enemy is ready to sow seeds of confusion. With such multiplicity of conflicting thoughts, the person struggles to accept the Truth of the Word of God and continues to spiral down into depression. The confusion is not mitigated but fueled into more confusion. Jesus says unless we receive the Truth like a little child in its simplicity and in faith, we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. God’s Word is simple and if we accept it as it is and not complicate it, our faith also would be simple and true.

Nevertheless, if the prodigal swallows his/her pride, untangles himself/herself from the complicated web of lies, and decides to return home, our Heavenly Father sees the changing heart. He doesn’t even wait for a changed heart. Just a hint of change is good enough for Him to accept the prodigal back into the fold. He, who never took His eyes off of the horizon, longingly waits for the shadow of His prodigal to appear. The moment He sees the child coming towards Him, He runs to His beloved child. His compassionate heart knows no bounds of joy that fills His heart just to see His child back in front of His eyes and in His embrace. Such is the love of our Heavenly Father!

Dearly beloved, you may have a prodigal in your life or you yourself may be the prodigal. It is time to return home into the loving embrace of our Heavenly Father. He is waiting eagerly with open arms and with no questions or conditions. Saints, you who have been praying expectantly for your prodigal to return to the fold of God, do not despair. God knows your heart and sees your tears. The seed that you have sown will sprout, flourish and one day bear fruit. Whether you will be alive or not to see that, be rest assured that our God sees and He will bring to fruition multifold. Beloved, if you are struggling to accept the truth of the Word of God, please try again to accept His Word in all its simplicity. God is absolute. God’s truth is absolute. God’s love is absolute. God’s mercy is absolute. God’s grace is absolute. Nothing about Him is conditional. As you are returning, don’t be surprised to see your Heavenly Father running towards you to sweep you up in His arms and shower His love on you.

The Prodigal – What the locusts have eaten.

~ Sowmya Gali

Joel 2: 25 – 26

Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; then My people will never be put to shame.

Our Pastor’s wife invited the ladies of the church for a special prayer – a prayer for the prodigals. Never before have I been invited to participate in a prayer meeting such as this. We’ve prayed for salvation of people in our lives, healing of the sick, praying for the nation etc., but never praying for a prodigal. As I was preparing for the event, I was contemplating of the situations where you have a prodigal in your life and how uncomfortable it is going to be.

So, who is a prodigal? As I was trying to derive the meaning of a prodigal, the only definition that kept coming back to me was the one described in the ‘Parable of the Prodigal Son’ – a child who enjoyed in the lap of luxury in his/her father’s home, wanted more, left the home with the inheritance, squandered, realized his/her folly, humbled himself/herself and returned home. Spiritually speaking, a child brought up in the Word of God, desiring to explore what the world has to offer, leaves home with the moral values, squanders the values by compromising, realizes the emptiness, humbles and returns home into the waiting arms of the parents.

In the meantime, parents are left wondering if their precious child will ever return. The guilt that the parents live through each day, wondering where they have gone wrong in bringing up that child. The guilt gnaws at their hearts, day after day, month after month and year after year. The relationship with their child teeters on the edge. If anything, they do or say, may push them over the edge. They are walking on eggshells when they are around them. What topics could trigger an outburst or will enlarge the gulf in between them. With such anxious thoughts, the parents live each day in anticipation, and hoping for a miracle.

The Israelites were the prodigals in the book of Joel and God was speaking to them through the prophet. When they wandered off and followed other gods, squandering the inheritance that God blessed them with, they found themselves enslaved to the enemy.  They realized the goodness they had when they were obedient to God. Our Heavenly Father who is zealous for His own, squashed the enemy, restored His children back to the land and restored to them multifold. The years that they spent in exile and enslaved, those precious years, also were restored. The years that the swarming locust, creeping locust, stripping locust and the gnawing locust has robbed us of our family’s joy and peace, God is promising that He will make it up for us.

Dearly beloved, take heart! You may have a prodigal in your life now for whom you have shed and still crying countless tears at the feet of Jesus. Your life has been deeply impacted because of the choices they made. He sees your helpless state. He sees your anxieties. He sees your tears. Take heart! Be strong! Persevere through those tears to cling to the Faithful One who loves your prodigal also. The seed sown in them is dormant but will come alive and bear fruit one day soon. Don’t give up on your prodigal because our Lord will never give up on him/her. May our good and gracious Lord envelope you in His embrace and give you hope and comfort that the day is sooner than you expected when your prodigal is back in the fold of God.