Love Waits

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.       Luke 15:20

This passage has been running through my mind of late -- the story of the prodigal.  I have heard and considered this story many times over the years. 

Often, I've thought about the actions of the younger son.  I've wondered at his insistence in exerting his independence, leaving home and the family business.   I've deemed him rebellious and self-centered and immature.  But I've been encouraged at his willingness to humble himself and return home.

I've considered the older brother, no less self-absorbed than his younger sibling.  He stayed home, keeping a close eye on all that would one day be his.  We credit him with honoring his father by remaining home working while his little brother went off to play.  We deem him the responsible brother.  But, in fact, he had a jealous and controlling streak, and did not react well when things did not go as he thought they should.

But lately, it is the father whose perspective touches me most deeply.

It's been nearly a year since I had children sharing my home.  I must confess, it's been a difficult adjustment.  It's not that I mind the "empty nest" exactly.  It's just a very different season.

As long as there were children around, I had a very clear, fundamental purpose to my days.  There was no question of who I was to be ministering to each and every day.  And while my ministry was not confined to my home, it has been my starting point for a very long time.  And so it remains, but different.

As far as the children go, I've had to entrust them all to the Lord in new ways.  The two to whom I gave birth are adults now, and they don't need me in the same way that they once did.  The "loaners" - the foster children I've had the opportunity to share life with - are in the care of others.  I hear from some of them from time to time, but ultimately, my influence in their lives is very different now.

My motto has always been "Do what you can while you can and trust the rest to God."  What a blessing that I was able to share in being His hands and feet in caring for children!  

And now, I come to the story of the prodigal with new eyes and many questions.  

Why did the father let his younger son go?  Did he try to stop him?  Did he attempt to talk him out of leaving?  Why did he give the boy the inheritance money?  After all, it wasn't his yet.

And what was the relationship of the father with his older son?  Had the father put too much pressure and responsibility on him after his brother's departure?

I do not have answers to those questions.

What I do know is that the father loved his children.  He wanted good things for them.  I suspect he second-guessed his decisions often, probably wishing he could have protected his younger son from the consequences of reckless behavior.  He probably struggled with how strained the relationship with the older son had become.

I wonder if he ever thought of going after the younger son, and inviting him to come home?  Maybe he did go after him.  Probably, the father was met with rejection.  I can imagine the sting of that.

I know that the father never gave up.  The father waited.  And he watched.

When the son finally returned, the father didn't wait for him to come knock on the door and apologize.  He was already watching, hoping.  He RAN to the son and embraced him!  And though the son offered himself as a servant, the father welcomed him as a beloved child. 

What a beautiful picture of our heavenly Father! 

Truthfully, I wish that God would hold me back when I start testing the limits.  When I wander off, willfully choosing my own way over His, I wish he would chase me down and drag me back home.  But He doesn't.  It's not that He doesn't love me.  He does love me - so much.  But He doesn't want a relationship that is forced or obligatory. 

He created me, yes.  But He CHOSE me!  And now He waits for me to choose to come to Him.  He doesn't chase me down to spend time with me, and He seldom speaks to me when I have not taken some initiative in seeking Him out.  He's funny that way...

1 John 4:8 tells me that God is love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 describes a bit of what that means.  Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

God is love.  Not only does my heavenly Father show love; He IS love! He is patient and kind.  He is not rude.  He does not insist that I do things His way (though things go much better for me when I do!).  He bears all things.

He is the Father of the prodigal.  And so He waits. And He watches.  And whenever we're ready, so is He.  He closes the gap and welcomes us home with open arms.

I find this so comforting today, on so many levels.  

Maybe, like me, you have had some prodigal moments in your life.  Maybe even now you are choosing your way over His.  Perhaps you are in a season of parenting a prodigal, and you're not quite sure what to do.

Look at this old story with new eyes, and perhaps, you, too, will find encouragement there.

...Just a thought...

  

Lion of Judah

...and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram...     Matthew 1:3 ESV

Well, that's an odd choice for a key verse, is it not?

When I began my annual journey through the Scriptures this year, though I initially uttered an internal sigh at the sight of the genealogy contained in the first chapter of Matthew, that sigh quickly gave way to revelation.  Y'all know I LOVE when I find something "new" in Scripture!

If you've read very far into this blog, you also know that I love redemption stories.  This one was quite unexpected.  Maybe you're more observant than I am, and perhaps this will be less awe-inspiring for you than it was for me, but I just love it when the Lord brings good things out of our messes.

So, for context, here's another verse:

And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.  Genesis 38:6

Still seems a bit random, huh?

To really appreciate the magnitude of this thought, you'll need to read the entirety of Genesis 38.  The basic premise is that Judah, the son of Jacob, had three sons - Er, Onan, and Shelah.  The tradition of the time was that if a woman's husband died and she had not had children yet, her husband's brother was supposed to perform the duties of a "brother-in-law" (marry the widow and father a child to carry on the name of his dead brother).  So Judah's son Er married a girl named Tamar.  Er died, so Onan married Tamar.  Onan died, so Shelah was next in line to marry Tamar, but he wasn't old enough yet.  Some years passed and Tamar realized that Judah had no intention of letting Shelah marry her.  Her response was to pose as a prostitute and seduce Judah.  

There's a lot more detail to the story, but that kind of gives you some background to understand the significance of the genealogy.  

Perhaps you've heard Jesus referred to as the "Lion of Judah."  This is basically a reference to the fact that in Jesus' human ancestry, He was a descendant of Judah.

OK.  I've known that for a long time.  What's the big deal?

What I had never realized, though, was that Jesus was a descendant of Judah through some pretty sketchy circumstances.  Perez was the son of Judah through whom Christ descended, but Perez was the son of Judah's daughter-in-law!

Obviously, we're supposed to notice this.  That's why in Matthew's genealogical record, he adds "by Tamar" as a tag on the birth of Perez.

But why?  

I can only speculate.  Though Judah was so very flawed, having sold his brother Joseph into slavery and having fathered children through prostitution with his own daughter-in-law, yet through Judah's sinfulness, the way was being prepared for future rescue.  Through Joseph's slavery, the children of Israel were preserved through famine.  Through Judah's illicit affair, Jesus was born.  Crazy, huh?

The genealogy of Christ actually contains a lot of redemption stories.  I think that is fitting.  In spite of the very flawed nature of His ancestry, Jesus came as the ultimate Redeemer of all humanity.  

So there's some good news for us today.  I never sold a sibling into slavery, and I'll bet you didn't either.  And probably very few people have gotten caught up in the strange level of sexual misconduct in which Judah engaged.  And yet, for all of his flaws, Judah was not excluded from the redemption story of Jesus.  

And neither were you.  

None of my shortcomings - and they are many - are held against me by my Savior.  And neither are yours.

It's the very nature of redemption, and it is the heart of the Gospel.

...Just a thought...