If you are the parent of a prodigal, no doubt your story is laced with heartache.
There is nothing quite like the helplessness and frustration of witnessing a beloved child self-destruct and throw their very life away on the evils of this world.
It is difficult for those without lost children to comprehend the emotional trauma a prodigal brings into our lives, or how desperate and alone we can feel.
I pray that you, like me, are able to find joy and peace amidst the pain and despair of raising a prodigal.
If you have found yourself wondering if God is listening, or cares about you and your prodigal, you may be asking "Where are you God?" I spent years running around trying anything to help my child.
New therapists, new schools and several treatment centers.
Whatever I thought might work, I went ahead full-steam.
I learned the hard way that God can't bless what He doesn't ordain.
In other words, if you are running around trying this and that, and asking God to bless your agenda, you will likely end up frustrated and burned out.
I know I did.
If you find yourself asking God 'where are You in this?' it is likely that you aren't following God's lead, but asking Him to bless you while you are working in the flesh.
Some of my ideas were really good.
I went ahead with them because I loved my daughter, and I wanted the best for her.
I researched, talked to friends, sought out specialists and read lots of books.
I made the best choices I knew to make at the time.
Then, I prayed for God to work through what I set into motion.
When He didn't, I got angry.
And bewildered.
God wants us to ask him for His plan first, to follow His direction and to trust Him even when we can't see exactly where He is leading.
We can follow His direction because our God is a God that speaks.
He promises to lead us in all things.
Therefore, we must learn to hear God's voice.
I felt discouraged for years when I couldn't hear the voice of the Lord.
As I began to yield areas of my life back into His will, my ears were un-stopped.
If you find yourself in a place where you aren't sure you are hearing the Lord's voice, ask Him to speak clearly to you.
Ask Him if there something in your life that has severed communication with Him.
When we confess what He puts on our hearts and DO what He asks us to do, our ears are un-stopped, and we can more clearly follow the Lord and how is leading in the life of our lost child.
When we hear clearly from the Lord, we can find hope and peace even the most desperate circumstances.
Weigh what you hear against scripture and God's character.
If it lines up, DO whatever it is He asks of you.
Don't wait.
You will be blessed, because the Lord blesses us when we follow His lead.
(Psalm 33:18, 103:11, 145: 9, John 4:36, Matthew 6:19-21) Jesus said "I am the vine; you are the branches.
If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing".
(John 15:5) In the life of my prodigal, when I finally heard God clearly tell me that "He had this situation," my child had run away from home and was living in squalor sharing a single needle among a group of junkies.
And yet, God gave me peace and a knowledge that He was working when there was literally nothing I could do.
Looking back, if I hadn't heard the Lord, I surely would have messed up what He was doing.
He taught my child a valuable lesson and took her out of that place without my help.
I was only able to let her go, and let God work because I knew without a doubt God had spoken to me.
So it is with you and your lost child.
Prayer: Jesus, I long to hear You speak to me.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, in your over abundant grace, give me ears to hear Your sweet voice.
Lord, if there is something in my life that has separated us, I pray that You will reveal that to me and give me a repentant heart.
In Your name I pray, Amen.