HOPE for the Holidays - Day 17

My precious children, 1990

"What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we HOPE for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see." (Heb. 11:1)


Story of HOPE:

       A few years back, I was the mother of a prodigal child; but by God's grace and power, that child came to his senses and returned to his God and the path of righteousness. 
        O parents of prodigals, my heart bleeds for you and your rebel. I urge you to never stop HOPING in God!

With a smirk of satisfaction, the boy shoved the money into an animal skin bag and tightly cinched the leather cords. As his sandals hit the dusty road, he called back over his shoulder, "Goodbye, Father", and then raced toward the sun just touching the horizon. 

The old man's gaze remained fixed on the figure in the distance until his youngest child disappeared from sight.  "I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my help?  My help cometh from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; He that keepeth thee will not slumber…"(Psalm 121:1-3), the father recited aloud in low, broken tones. Weeping softly, he dropped onto aging knees beside the rolled bed mat where he remained in prayer until the vanishing sun reappeared in gentle hues of pinks and violets.

         The household returned to daily chores with one less pair of hands to labor. From time to time, the ol' gentleman cast a HOPEful glance westward, but the boy never appeared.  Turning his focus from the skyline toward heaven, he prayed  "I will rest, in You, O Lord, and wait patiently for You" (Psalm 37:7).  

         Days turned into weeks and weeks stretched into seemingly endless months. One ordinary day, as the father shuffled toward the stone well, something beyond the cistern caught his eye. Suddenly, the old man dropped his water jar and ran with outstretched arms down the dusty road toward a homesick boy.

(Read the Story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32)

O Father, I pray for every reader that has a prodigal or even may be a prodigal themselves. Please bring them close to You and back to Your place of GRACE and HOPE!