Finding Gifts in the Wilderness, episode 88 (rebroadcast)

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If you love a prodigal, you can discover help and hope for your wilderness journey right

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here at When You Love a Prodigal and also help and hope for your own life journey.

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Today we will begin a series on the amazing gifts we can discover in our prodigal wilderness.

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You say gifts in the wilderness.

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I don't think there are any gifts there.

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You certainly don't expect to find one of your best gifts ever when you are wandering

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through a wilderness.

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A walk in the wilderness might be lovely if you are a nature lover and you keep your eyes

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open.

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You can discover some real gems, colorful creatures, spectacular plants, encounters

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with startling animals, and astounding arrays of colors and shapes, underwater, hidden waterfalls.

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And a walk in the wilderness could also be frightening and full of surprises that turn

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out to be dangerous.

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Oh, snakes, spiders, poisonous plants, wild animals.

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That experience is more like the wilderness we know as lovers of prodigals.

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Among that wilderness journey, you may experience fear, anger, frustration, doubt, depression,

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desperation, hopelessness.

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You encounter people and situations you would never have known nor want to know.

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When I remember the things that we went through, it was a whole new world that we got exposed

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to.

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Every way you try to help him or her towards a safe and productive life fails, and you

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often feel like a failure.

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But if you keep your eyes and your mind and heart open, you will discover treasures that

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you never anticipated.

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Loving a prodigal can introduce you to deep needs in hurting people, broken families,

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broken systems, the needs that they have.

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Depth of empathy and compassion that you have never felt before, and opportunities to offer

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comfort and love.

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I know my husband experienced a lot of that as he watched our son and encountered others

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and his compassion for them grew.

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Loving a prodigal will also open doors of understanding and tenderness toward the wanderer

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you love.

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And though we may have started out with understanding and tenderness, sometimes the journey is so

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full of conflict and so painful that tenderness and understanding have disappeared.

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But if you pay attention, it will open your ears and you can hear the heart cries of this

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person that's causing you so much pain.

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It will help you learn life lessons that you have hoped your prodigal will grasp.

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Sometimes what they need, we also need at least a certain degree of.

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You will be able to recognize old patterns of relating and communicating and adopt some

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new approaches that will transform your future with your loved one.

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There's more, though.

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In this series, we will be wilderness explorers, discovering seven invaluable gifts to transform

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our lives as well as our prodigals.

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By the time we are done, you may find yourself on your knees in gratitude to God.

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And the best gift you will find in this wilderness journey will be your prodigal.

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He or she will be the channel through which God does a beautiful work in you and will

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lay the groundwork for a rich new relationship with your prodigal someday to come.

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So let's begin this search that will enable each of us to say, thank God for this gift

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too wonderful for words that we are told about in 2 Corinthians 9.

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So the first gift that we're going to look at is the gift of mercy.

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What was the last thing that your prodigal did that really exasperated you, lied to

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you, stole from you, drove high or intoxicated, moved in with a girlfriend or boyfriend,

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refused to go to school, did something foolish and dangerous, ended up in jail.

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Refused to communicate with you.

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What was your response?

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Angry words, accusations, threats, bribes.

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These are the kinds of responses that we usually have.

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But let's look at it from another way.

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What was the last thing you did that might have saddened God?

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Probably not the obviously destructive things your prodigal might have done, but God has

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saddened by many of our choices in response to our loved ones or to other events and circumstances

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in our lives.

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Responses like anger, hurtful words, harsh punishments or fear, deceit, lack of kindness

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or compassion, unloving attitude, impatience.

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It could be a long list.

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And what was God's response when you responded that way?

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Think of Jesus' response to people in Scripture, such as the woman at the well that he, instead

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of condemning her, he offered her living water or the thief on the cross who deserved

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to be there who said so himself, and yet he said, Today you will be with me in paradise.

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And then there's the woman who was caught in adultery.

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The story is in John 8.

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The woman's accuser surely had set up the caught in the act, shaming of this woman, dragged

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from the bed, apparently, and thrust at the feet of Jesus.

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She awaited his condemnation and her own death.

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Jesus was quiet, wrote on the ground.

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Then he said, Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.

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She cringed, anticipating, waiting for the stones to come.

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As she heard nothing but the sound of stones dropping to the ground and feet shuffling

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away.

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Woman, where are they?

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Jesus asked, Has no one condemned you?

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No one, sir, the amazed woman replied.

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Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared.

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Go now and leave your life of sin.

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Jesus showed mercy to her, and she hadn't even asked for it.

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And you and I, surely we too, often find ourselves crying out to God for mercy, as David did

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after his sin with Bathsheba.

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Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion,

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blot out my transgressions.

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Psalm 51 is really good.

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We are grateful our God is like the merciful Father in Luke 15.

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As the Father's prodigal wanderer returned, before he could even speak his repentance,

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the Father ran to him, threw his arms around him, kissed him, put a cloak and a ring on

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him and threw a party.

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For God loves mercy.

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And one of Josh's great gifts to me is my ability to grasp that truth.

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Our God is willing to immerse us in his mercy.

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Ephesians 2 tells us, But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made

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us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in transgressions, it is by grace you have

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been saved.

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Yes, God is opposed to sin, and sin generates consequences, some of which are the natural

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result of choices made, others that we impose.

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But our primary response should be one that flows out of the love and grace that we ourselves

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have received.

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Even as we have been immersed in the mercy of our God, so should we give mercy to our

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prodigals.

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We should be less like the Pharisees dragging in the woman caught in adultery and more like

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the very wronged Father who ran to his prodigal son with welcome and mercy.

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May we live with this truth.

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Mercy triumphs over judgment.

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So think about it.

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Does that mean there are no consequences?

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No, it doesn't mean there are no consequences.

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But how we approach them and how we respond to our loved ones is with the mercy that God

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has given us.

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So think about this.

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When has mercy been given to you?

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How did that affect you?

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How might you extend more mercy to your prodigal?

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Next week we will consider two more amazing gifts to discover in the prodigal wilderness.

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But this week, practice mercy.

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You'll surprise yourself, anyone watching, and especially your loved one.

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Notice them in the mercy of God that's flowing through you.

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God bless you.