Faithfully yours - Stories of love – part one

Details

Published on Saturday, February 6, 2016

By Neil Strohschein

The Neepawa Banner

Of all his days on earth, this one was by far the worst. He tried to sleep, but he couldn’t. His heart was breaking and only his dear wife fully understood why.

To his friends and neighbors, he was the ultimate success story. His was the best run and most profitable farm in the entire area. He was assisted by a loyal group of servants. He hired the best, trained them well and often worked alongside them, helping each one learn how to do a better job or work more efficiently. At the end of the day, they were paid and rewarded for extra work done or initiatives taken. This man had it all—at least that’s how it looked to most people.

But today he was heart broken. He had just watched his younger son walk down the lane. He had a suitcase in one hand and bag filled with cash in the other. The suitcase held all the clothing he wanted to take with him. The bag held his inheritance—the money he would have received had his father died that day. He was leaving home—never to return (or so he thought).

The man waited until his son was out of sight. Then he went back to work. But every night, just as the sun was setting, he made his way to the veranda, sat in his favorite chair and looked down the lane—hoping, longing and praying that his son would find his way home.

The son couldn’t have cared less what his father was doing. He was living his dream—sleeping all day, partying all night, doing whatever he wanted. He was surrounded by people who were just like him—people whose motto was: “Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die.”

As we all know, good times like this don’t last forever. Two crises brought this young man’s dream to a sudden and dramatic end. First, he ran out of money. Then a famine hit the land in which he was living. There were no crops to harvest. Unemployment shot up to an all time high. Food was scarce. The young man went to his friends looking for help, but they were just like him—out of cash, out of work and living on the streets.

Eventually, this young man took the only job he could find—feeding pigs. To a Jewish boy living in ancient Israel, feeding pigs was the ultimate insult. That’s when he decided to go home.

He didn’t know what he would find when he got there, but he need not have worried. He came back into the arms of a loving and forgiving father, a father whose faith and hope never wavered over the many days that he and his son were separated, a father who welcomed him back—not as an embarrassment to be tolerated, but as a son who had died, come back to life and was ready to begin a new life in his father’s house.

In my career, I have spoken to many parents in pain. Their stories are like the story of this father who lived during Jesus’ time. Like him, they have a child who left home under less than ideal circumstances. Like him, their love for that child has never wavered. They spend a portion of each day praying that their wayward child will return home.

If this describes you, don’t give up hope. Keep praying and trusting in God. He will answer your prayers in his time and in his way.