A Break In The Clouds

Isaiah 51:11 -- "So the ransomed of the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sadness will flee away."

image: dianaleghmatthews.com

The dust kicked up by his sandals slowly dissipated into the breeze until it could no longer be seen. A heaviness settled deep into his father's heart - it became nearly too much for one person to carry. As a long day closed on a heart-breaking chapter in one family's life, the darkness that followed seemed to have no end. It was easy to wonder if the sun would ever rise again.

It must have been amazingly difficult for the father of the prodigal son to let his baby boy walk out the front door. What if he never came home again? What if something were to happen to him while he was out there sewing his wild oats?

Several things occur to me as I read this story in the book of Luke [chapter 15:11-32]: Dad didn't argue and beg regarding the decision made by his youngest son - at least, we're not told that he did. Dad ALLOWED his son to make his own mistakes. He LET his boy walk away from the safety and comfort of family. AND - we never really see Dad's pain.  But we know it was there because of the rejoicing that came with the return of his child. I mean, THAT was the whole point of the tale - that something lost was found.

Even more than that - we aren't privy to the amount of gut-wrenching, heart throbbing pleading that just had to have come from Dad's lips every single time he prayed to God. There HAD to be some pretty intense meditation going on during all the days that Dad's youngest son was away.

But the BIGGEST thing that sticks out when I read this story? Life continued in spite of baby boy breaking Dad's heart and throwing the household into chaos. Dad didn't neglect his duties [that we know of] and he remained responsible to the daily running of his house and caring for his land/live stock. We know THIS because of what his oldest son says when baby boy comes home. Much work continued even in the middle of what must have felt like a crisis. We are never promised that long lost son WOULD come home. We only find that out at the end of the tale. And yet - Dad never once expresses anger at God. He doesn't question God's faithfulness, His goodness, His power, or His plan - even though there were probably many opportunities for him to do so.

In other words - Dad accepted his responsibilities and allowed baby boy to be responsible for his own actions.

That's a pretty tough thing for a parent to do -- LET GO. It's tough on so many levels. First, it's hard for us to remove the training wheels and allow our children to fall. Second, it's a tough thing to refrain from taking the blame when something goes wrong. We want to claim the pain when the child falls off the bike - even though we aren't the ones peddling.

The story of the prodigal son in the book of Luke has a happy ending. We see that Dad's sorrow is completely erased and that the sun did, indeed rise again on a beautiful and bright new day. The one things we DON'T see -- is how long Dad had to wait out the storm. We don't really know how many days turned into months or how many months turned into years. We DO see the passing of time.

We DO see joy granted to a family that experienced much grief.

And THAT my brothers and sisters - is the hope to which we must cling.

We are not promised that the race will be easy, pain free, or even fun. But we ARE promised there is a finish line. We ARE promised hope and encouragement along the way. How many times does Paul elude to staying the course? To remaining focussed on the goal ahead and NOT on how long and winding be the road?

Talk about tough. Sometimes I want to whine about the dust on the road - and the jagged gravel - and the incline that makes my leg muscles burn. I WANT to grumble about the pain and the unfairness of it all.

But THAT is not for what duty I am called. And it's NOT what prodigal Dad did.

No - we know beyond any doubt that our sorrow and sadness will flee away. We are promised joy. We are promised gladness. And we are promised it everlasting!

Thank you, thank you Dear Savior for your unbreakable Word. Thank you for my future joy.