The Prodigal’s Pain
Isaiah 66:9
“Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?” Says the Lord; “shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?” Says your God.
This verse is powerful, God is saying why would I cause pain and not let something good come out of it. Why would I waste a trial in a persons life? why would I let the test not be a testimony? Why would I let the very pain that my child is experiencing not have any good come from it?
I have been brought to this verse many times in the past. With the passing of a loved one, a broken relationship, we’ve all experienced pain. And there was always a purpose behind it.
You see, “…He has put eternity into man’s heart…” – Ecclesiastes 3:11. God put in our heart, eternity. There’s nothing that this World offers that replaces, fills, permeates the desire that our hearts long for — the Creator, God. Your friend or family member who has once tasted and seen and felt the love of God at one time who is now living life to the fullest, so they think. In the World. They feel the pain, and so do we. But we have to remember that there is a purpose with the pain.
Much like the Prodigal in Luke 15 who packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land. He spent all that he had carelessly, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. “When he finally came to his senses” the pain had finally caught up with him and he said to himself “At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!” So he returned home to his father.”
But today, as I was praying for a family member who have strayed away, who once knew Him, the Lord showed me an analogy of Isaiah 66:9 of the person who I was praying for.
A pregnancy is nine months, nine long months of having discomfort, sick, carrying extra weight that they have to carry until the time of the birth. Much like the Prodigal, they too are experiencing pain, discomfort, the shame and guilt. But remember that God has to cause the pain, the discomfort to lead them back to Him. His love is relentless, He is always pursuing the hearts of those who have known Him and have not yet known Him. It’s His kindness that leads us to repentance. It’s all part of His plan.
If you know someone who is a prodigal, don’t stop praying, don’t give up. They are of the Lord’s, He sees them where they are, even if they have forgotten Him, He has not. There is purpose in the pain, your prodigal is coming home!
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