Strange as it may seem, not a rich inheritance came as a blessing to the prodigal son, but pigs and hunger. The wealth he gained turned into a rut for his fall, while the circumstances of need, hunger and disgrace brought him to his senses and made him return to the place where he was truly loved, where he was valued and waited for, where he found the blessing and happiness of home.
I’ll tell you a short real life story. An elderly couple (now deceased) lived in Sacramento County. The husband had been a church minister for a long time; the wife was his faithful assistant. The Lord blessed them with long lives and they saw “their sons with their sons”. Once they shared that at the very beginning of their marriage the Lord wanted to bless them, but they didn’t have enough trust in Him to accept this blessing.
“A year after the wedding our first child was born” – they began their unhurried story, -“it was a boy. He was born strong, healthy and it’s difficult to describe the joy of those happy days. But our happiness was short-lived. A few months later the child became seriously ill and his condition worsened day by day. Doctors gave him injections, pills and tinctures; we did compressions and applied ointments, but nothing helped and our baby faded before our eyes. A few days later on a winter night his breathing stopped. His little arms and legs were getting cold as ice and we realized that his soul was leaving the child’s body.
Maddened by grief, on our knees, we begged God to save our baby. “Lord, – we cried in the twilight of the room, – “Leave him with us! Leave us our child! You see how our souls became attached to him. You know there won’t be any grief greater than losing this baby…” With these and many other words we cried out to God, pressing his lifeless little body to our hearts, or raising him up to heaven with our trembling hands. Tears poured out of our eyes and it seemed that the whole world would cease to exist if we would lose him.
Our cries were heard. When the gray dawn crept through the windows, the baby slept in a serene quiet sleep, the way only children can sleep. Still not believing our happiness, we bent over the cradle and listened to his breath, and couldn’t get enough of this miracle. At that time we didn’t understand how God wanted to bless us by taking him as an innocent pure baby.
After him, we had other sons and daughters. All of them grew up to be obedient and agreeable children, willingly attending church children’s meetings and later meetings for young adults. Having matured, they were baptized, started their own families, and never caused us anything but joy and satisfaction.
But our first-born was a whole different story. He was the naughtiest and the most stubborn child in our family, including our extended family. One after another, problems and worries came to our home and it was getting worse and worse. From an early age he started skipping classes, running away from home, started smoking, and frequently came home drunk. He got in with the wrong crowd of guys, who always reeked of alcohol and were often getting arrested. None of our words and attempts to persuade him, got to him. He was rude to us and kept sinking deeper and deeper. We would send him to rehab, he would run away, we would catch him and it would start all over again.
This nightmare has been going on to the present day. We moved to the US, and now his family is suffering here with us. His eldest son, our grandson, took after his father. He became a frequent guest in the police station; his drug addiction was treated in a special clinic, while our miserable son has already been in an American prison.
We’ve never treated our children differently; we’ve never picked favorites in the family. We fed, dressed and loved them all equally and have no idea why our son turned out to be a lost cause. It’s our fault that at that crucial moment, we didn’t find the strength to trust God and put everything in His loving hands. Now we cry and pray for the salvation of our son’s soul and for his children. We pray to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. We ourselves shouted, and begged for this never-ending sorrow, that we now have to live with for our whole lives. We’ve long understood that this was the way the Lord wanted to bless our earthly days, by taking him to Himself in infancy, but unfortunately, we refused His blessing.
We wish all parents wholeheartedly: trust God with everything He has given you. God is never late or wrong. He will take care of everything and do everything for your good, for God is Love, and love never thinks evil. “Put all your worries on him, for he cares for you.” We now really understand these words of Scripture. And always remember that “to those who love God, called by his will, everything works together for good.”