God’s Prodigal Child

​Real Dudes,
Father’s Day is this Sunday. I trust each of you will have a most wonderfullest day. I was thinking about what to write in this posting, and what God laid on my heart was something a friend of mine shared with me recently. We were discussing spiritual matters and during our conversation he pointed something out to me that I’d missed before…hopefully you can benefit from it as well.
In Luke 15:11-32 Luke 15:11-32 we read the story of the Prodigal Son. In this parable the Father is to be seen as God Himself, and the son is to be seen as one of God’s children. In this parable the son asked for his portion of the inheritance. The Father didn’t have to give it to him, but He did anyway and allowed the son to leave with it. Again, this parable is intended to be a picture of God and His child. Sometimes His children want to leave, and He allows it. I think there are times when we as earthly parents attempt to play the God the Father role in this parable. Sure, we can take some principles from it, but in all reality God the Father is attempting to teach His child a lesson in this scenario…to be submissive to Him. There are times when we as earthly fathers attempt to control and manipulate our children, and in doing so we cause them to miss out on what God the Father is attempting to accomplish in their lives. In a sense, we rob our earthly children of an opportunity to desire to want to turn back to God on their own, and or we rob them of an opportunity to experience perseverance through self-inflicted sufferings. As a result we attempt to play God ourselves, and or we exhaust ourselves by attempting to carry unneeded anxiety because we can’t get ourselves to trust God enough to bring His children back to Him in His perfect way and time…not bring them back to a man-made system, not back to a Law, but rather, back to Him and His ways.
If you have a prodigal child in your home, then let me encourage you as a fellow-earthly father to allow God the Father to do His work in his/her heart and life, and to also allow your child to know that they have a soft, safe, and loving landing place to return to. Hopefully, this helps you take a deep breath, pray for your child, pray for God’s prodigal children, and submit to Him and His plan as well.
Romans 5:3 (NIV) Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
1 Peter 5:7 (NIV) Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Song: Run to the Father by Cody Carnes
Practicing His Presence,
Nate