What is loving a prodigal doing to my reputation?

November 1, 2013: What is loving a prodigal doing to my reputation? Please “Share” this new Blog Post for Precious Prodigal: http://preciousprodigal.com/blog/blog=index.html

2 Samuel 8:13 “And David gat him a name…”

I was visiting a young woman in the county jail. She was awaiting transfer from there to the state prison where she would serve a sentence for her drug-related charges. She had since trusted Christ and had put together almost a year of sobriety, but there were still consequences she had to face from her previous choices. While she admitted that those consequences were less than she deserved, she was still completely overwhelmed with where she was and with what she was facing.

With glass between us, she was crying and talking to me on a telephone. Admittedly, her situation was tough. But what was to be gained by crying about it? I remember saying to her, “You say you have a Savior and a solution. Is that true?” When she agreed that it was, I told her she needed to stop crying about what she could not change and begin showing the people around her that she had both those things. How could she show others that both her Savior and her solution would work for their circumstances if she was totally overwhelmed by her own?

If that was true about my young friend, how much more true is it about you and me…those of us who love a prodigal? We aren’t in prison unless it’s a prison we have made for ourselves with our anger, our pain, and our resentments. If we tell friends and family that Christ or Alanon or Overcomers can help them, don’t you think our lives should show that they are helping us? If we say that we love the Lord and we believe He is going to work things out for our good and His glory, don’t you think we ought to act as though we believe it?

I’m not saying we won’t ever feel sad, disappointed or even despondent. Loving a prodigal is a hard path to walk, and some days are harder than others. I’m right there with you. However, we can’t convince someone that our God can meet their needs, give them strength to face the day and comfort their broken spirits if we don’t manifest that in our own lives. We can’t tell them they are in need of recovery as much as their prodigals if we don’t show any recovery or joy ourselves. If what they hear from us is, “Doom and gloom from womb to tomb,” why in the world would they want what we have?

David “gat him a name,” and that name was about victory in the God he served. Most of the psalms he wrote were about his struggles and God’s faithfulness. He often wrote them with a broken heart, and some of those struggles were with his own faith. We may be struggling too, both with our circumstances and our faith. But if we believe God is able to meet our needs and the needs of others, our faces and our words need to reflect that belief. Someday this spiritual battle is going to be over, and I’m going to be on the victory side. Until then, I stubbornly refuse to be an advertisement for what grief can do to a person in their circumstances. I will choose instead to show what my God can do for a person in those same circumstances.

Challenge for Today: Can you, just for today, choose the kind of faith and joy that will attract others to what you say you have?

Author's Note

November 1, 2013:
What is loving a prodigal doing to my reputation?
Please “Share” this new Blog Post for Precious Prodigal:
http://preciousprodigal.com/blog/blog=index.html