Calling Out to All Prodigals

I pray that today's post may shed some light on the darkness you may be facing. Whether you are the stander, may this show you how to pray for your loved one. If you are the prodigal, may you hear from someone that knows what you are going through. I'm not really sure where to start with this so I will just let it flow....

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I am a stander. But not due to the greatness of my own spirit or convictions. I stand because I was shown how to stand by my wife. In the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, my wife set her face towards God and chose to believe His Word about God, about marriage, and about me. I have since come to the same truths about God and about marriage. And more importantly, I have come to know the truth about me.

Although I am now a stander, I was a prodigal first. I guess you could call me a reformed prodigal. Or better yet...a redeemed prodigal. Yes, I am a redeemed prodigal. I am glad that I have been redeemed but many days I feel so ashamed about the past that I created. I am unworthy of the life that I now am free to live.

You see, I had all the opportunities that everyone has to be the person that I was designed to be. I also had all the opportunities to be the person that it was easier to be. And that is the person I chose to be. I didn't make the time to know God. I didn't find the time to learn who He made me to be. I didn't care about what I was giving up; I wanted to be the one in control. It was easier to be influenced by the allure of the world and its value system than to stand for righteousness and truth.

But, easy never allows for growth. Easy never causes one to rise up, to overcome, to see what waits for those that will ascend the hill of God. Easy only leads one to begin to desire the slop of the pigs. Easy paves the way that will draw you down to places you could never have imagined in your wildest nightmares. Easy makes sure that there are no bumps in the road to deter you from your destruction.

To the prodigals that may be reading this...please, hear the truth from someone that has been down that smooth, easy path. The road you are on will not bring you what you think you are missing out on. The choices you have made will not bring joy, or freedom, or the life you think you were made to live. You will wind up broken, alone, and longing for things to just go back to the way they were.

Prodigal child, running son, hiding daughter, please, please, listen to me. If you haven't yet, you will find yourself longing for things to go back to the way that they used to be. Your mind will wander thinking about what if I stayed. You left the life, marriage, and the family you had for what might have been with someone or something else. And now, what you had hoped would bring satisfaction has now left you empty and alone. I was there...I know the emptiness. I know the feeling that all is lost.

BUT IT'S NOT OVER!!

There is still hope. What was lost can be restored. Not only restored but redeemed. Everything that was lost can be bought back. Not only can it be bought back but it has been purchased. There is a man, Jesus, that took a cross to pay for all of your sin and my sin. He made it possible for all to be redeemed. All of your bad choices, all of your running, all of your infidelity, all of your unnatural desires....He paid for all of them so that you could be free from them.

Prodigal, you are not too far gone. You have not strayed so far that His love cannot reach you. You have done nothing that He cannot and will not and has not already forgiven you. You are redeemed; all you have to do is ask.

If you are reading this and need someone to simply hear you and your heart, email us. If you need someone to cry with, we are here for you. If you need someone to show you to this man, Jesus, we would love to help you with that. If no one else with fight with you to get back to the place where you know you are supposed to be, we will. We love you!!

Still standing as a redeemed prodigal,
Josh