Prodigal's Returning Home

Have you ever done something wrong and felt so much guilt and shame? Or are you searching for something but never feeling satisfied? Are you one who keeps wasting your life away? If you said yes, then please keep reading. We will discuss the Prodigal Son's story and the importance of desiring God and taking accountability for our actions.

 You don't have to look much further for whatever you seek. Whether purpose, love, security, peace of mind, or healing.  Christ came for you and wanted to free you from the burdens of keeping you bound. In Luke 15: 11- 32, KJV, Jesus tells a story called the Prodigal Son. The Prodigal Son lived in a good home; he didn’t have to want anything, and his father cared for him.  One day, his father gave him his portion of his inheritance, and a few days later, he left the house and went to live his life. As he was living his life wastefully, time passed, and he had spent all his money on unhealthy things. Then, a famine came in the country he was in, and he was able to get a job, but no one would feed him, and he was starving to death.  

During this pivotal time, he had hit what we call “rock bottom,” he had a wake-up call and realized what he was doing. I imagine he said something like, “Yo, what are you doing here?  I had it made; I had everything I needed back home; like look, you not getting any food, and you are tempted to eat the pig's scraps. Man! Get yourself together because this is not it.”  So, he ran home to tell his father sorry and if he would welcome him back in his home.  The prodigal son felt so much shame, guilt, and pain that he caused to his father. Not knowing that his father was leaping for joy because he had longed for him. When the father saw his son, he told one of his servants to put shoes on his feet and clothes on his back, cleaned him up, and threw a feast for his return. His father showed him grace and love, and instead of making the son feel even worse than he already did, he showered him with love.

Later in the text, the father's older son is angry with him and doesn't understand why his father is going all out for the prodigal son—for a rebellious child. The father says, “You don't understand; my son was dead and is now alive; he was lost and is now found.”

What are you starving for?

We starve for attention, likes, validation, money, and accolades. Chasing things to fill our hunger, we find temporary pleasures that numb us until we come to our senses and realize that this lifestyle of constant worrying, and stress is not leading us anywhere but to destruction. Have you ever desperately desired God so much that you hungered for his presence and safety and for him to fulfill and save you? John 6:32 states, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never go hungry." When we want God more than our desires, we find belonging and fulfillment that earthly pleasures can't fill.

God is our fulfillment

As I read this Bible passage, I asked myself, "What was the prodigal son chasing?" And I realized he didn't see how good his life was.  He didn't know that he was living in the goodness of God.  This story is relatable because we can see ourselves in him in many ways. Perhaps you lived a sheltered life, and you longed for a sense of freedom. Not knowing what the world is like, you had to face hardships to wake you up.  Or maybe you were introduced to a substance or unhealthy coping mechanisms that led you down the wrong path. This caused you to step outside of God's will, and you didn't even realize it until God revealed it to you.

      Only God can fulfill us; our Father has everything we need. No amount of money, talent, sex, or any other counterfeit will satisfy the longing in our hearts like Christ can. And it's not until we discover that life outside of him isn't all that that we finally see Christ as the only answer.         

Are you sick and tired of living Unsatisfied?

 What I also like about this passage is that it shows what being sick and tired (of being sick and tired) looks like. Many people can go their whole lives lost and not in the will of God, just going through the motions and never having a wake-up call. It shows the humanity of not being satisfied with what you thought you wanted, and then having to sit with yourself and say, "God, you have to be the only option for me." We often focus so much on materialistic items and trying to have it all together that we never ask if our life is pleasing God. 

The father in the passage loved his son and didn’t want to see him leave, but he respected his choice. Abba, our father, doesn’t want us to go down a path he didn’t intend for us. Our father loves us and wants us to have a spiritual and physical life. But sometimes, we can be stubborn and make choices that harm us.

We can be like the prodigal son in the sense that we have turned our backs on God; we walked away from God, and his love, protection, grace, favor, joy, and his gift of eternal life. We allow the things that we struggle with to consume us instead of letting God heal us completely. We must say, "God, I've had enough of living in sin. I've had enough of giving myself to people who abuse me, of drinking and smoking to numb the pain of abandonment, molestation, or rape. I've had enough of feeling like I am unworthy and living in darkness." So, we find hope in Jesus; we have to hunger for God and the things of God. 

The prodigal son had a hunger for his father; he realized that somewhere along the way, he got distracted and lost focus on what he already had. He wasted time, talents, money, resources, love, attention, and gifts on things that didn’t have the grace or capacity to handle him. He was left depleted and starving to be refilled.  He realized that his way left him for dead or even on his way to hell, and he realized he had one shot to make this right.

This is the lesson: we must hunger for God like the Prodigal. Remove all stubbornness, pride, lust, greed, and undisciplined ways, and chase after God with all your heart and strength.

Welcome Home

God knows your heart and he understands your pain. If you come back to him and repent, he will welcome you. Repenting is not just saying "I’m sorry", but it is saying "I won’t do it again. I won’t turn my back on you. I will walk away from everything that is hurting me: the trauma, the perversion, self-sabotaging, and pain. If you accept me and let me back in, I want to work for you." Aiming to be better even if you fall or fail along the way- promising that you will always get back up again. 

This is how we must be! We are imperfect people. We have so much dirt, selfishness, pride, lust, and envy. We care more about having a good time and being in worldly relationships than having a relationship with the Father in heaven. But because God knows our hearts, he knows who will accept him. And that is why he says that despite all your wrongs, if you take his Son, Jesus, and believe that he paid the price for your sins, he will welcome you into his family and into his kingdom with open arms. Trust that Christ has covered your mistakes, failures, shame, and guilt. He accepts you into his home, cleans and changes your clothes, and gives you a new purpose and heart. Don't chase after the things that are only killing your soul, but chase after the things that are aligned with God's will for your life.

How many times have we walked out on God, thinking we're in charge of our lives, not willing to know that our lives belong to him, our talents and skills are from him, and we get distracted by how to be trendy, money, cars, fame, and sex. Then we realize that those things don’t satisfy us, leaving us thirsty and wanting more. Then we know that we were fulfilled in Christ. Only he can save, change, and fulfill us.

Fix your eyes on Jesus

Don’t look back and make wise choices. I can imagine that once the prodigal son came to his senses, it took him some time to return home. Please don’t continue to want the past when you know it wasn’t good for you. It is up to you to not walk out of the will of God or his safe covering.

That was me; I was chasing love in all the wrong places, sacrificing myself for non-reciprocal love. Until I had a wake-up call and said I was coming back home to my father, where I could receive the love and healing I had always been searching for. He fulfilled me; he healed all my emotional pain and trauma and said come home.  

As I close, I pray that you will submit yourselves to God and follow him. Repent and turn away from the things you’re chasing that are still leaving you empty, and allow God to be your everything. In Jesus' name, Amen!

Until next time, be blessed and keep your head up.

Love,

Mahalia 💛💛