Even Now is Beautiful (Or Will Be)

Sometimes circumstances in the life of our prodigals seem anything but beautiful, but there is a promise that says otherwise:

"He has made everything beautiful in its time" (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NKJV). 

So where does this promise fit into this chapter of life, this chapter that is so full of pain caused by bad decisions by our prodigals? How can God actually say this will be beautiful in time?

So many other promises say the same thing in a different way:

1. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28, NKJV). 
2. "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness" (Psalm 30:11, NKJV). 
3. "To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified" (Isaiah 61:3, NKJV).

The promise that God will bring beauty out of even really ugly situations is true. 

This first part is really good, but the verse doesn't stop there. It goes on to say: "Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end" (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

You can know that the prodigal is thinking about eternity and the consequences of their actions, even when their actions do not reflect this.

And even though He sometimes gives us raindrops to bring a ray of beauty to our situations, we cannot always see that God is working, but He is. 

We may not know how all of this ugly fits into the beautiful plan of God, but He redeems it all!

"Fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives" (Nehemiah 4:14).

Nehemiah was leading the construction of the walls of Jerusalem, and the surrounding enemies did not want them protected by walls. They laughed at them, despised them, and tried using propaganda against them (Nehemiah 2:19). They mocked the Jews (4:1) and planned an attack against them (4:8).

Nehemiah told them, "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses" (4:14).

We do not have to fear the enemy of the souls of our prodigals. We simply do what Nehemiah told the Jews: "Remember the Lord, great and awesome." Isaiah 26:3 says, "You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You."

Need perfect peace? Need to be free of fear of the enemy? Keep your mind on who God is and what He is capable of. The truth in that will put the lies of the enemy out of play!

Then you can prayerfully build walls of protection around and fight for your prodigal siblings, children, and spouses!

"When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, 'Do not weep.' Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, 'Young man, I say to you, arise.' So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother" (Luke 7:13-15).

'Nuf said!

Ants were everywhere!

And there did not seem to be a defined path!

I killed as many as I could with tissues, but I soon realized a few tissues wouldn't do it.

We had one ant bait pod, which we strategically put out, but when I awoke this morning, there were hundreds of ants, so many more than last night. The inside of the pod was solid black from the ants.

I realized one ant bait pod wouldn't be enough, so I made a WalMart run before work and put out two more.

Because things seemed to get worse instead of better, I seriously doubted the pods would be effective, although we have used these pods before with great success. But when I got home from work, I found just two ants. TWO!

Now . . . what does this have to do with raindrops? I realized that although our heavenly Father has come through so many times with great success and His package (Word) promises great success, we sometimes expect to see more problems and little or no progress. We are actually sometimes surprised that He actually does what His Word says He will. Sometimes we try to help with our meager efforts (tissues), but what we really need are more prayer, promises, and praises (pods).

However, it doesn't matter what we either openly or covertly anticipate, God is Faithful, and what He said He will do. "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself" (2 Timothy 2:13).

Have you memorized The Lord's Prayer? You know: "Our Father which art in heaven . . . ."

"Our Father." That is as far as I got.

I was praying and decided to use The Lord's Prayer as a prayer starter, but when I said, "Our Father," I had to stop and thank God that I am part of an "our." I have family and friends that I love and that love me. I am so very grateful to be part of an "our," but our fellowship is not complete, inhibited by an inability to completely connect through a common relationship with Jesus Christ.

Recently two more family members have been saved, and it is such a joy to have full fellowship with them again. For some I am still prayerfully waiting.

I am praying for the day that God will truly be Father to everyone in my "our."

Redeemer is one of my favorite names of God.

Not because of anything I have done or anything that I am, the Father redeemed me. He sent His Son to pay for MY sins. He redeemed me!

When we used to sing, "I'm redeemed by love divine," it was so moving; and when we sang "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so," I wanted to scream, "SO!" Other songs about being redeemed and the very thought of being redeemed by our God make me feel so thankful!

Then I realized, that if God can redeem you and me, He can redeem our prodigals. If God can save me, He can save them! He did, and He can!

He IS their REDEEMER! Jesus already paid.

I've been quoting these verses for years but discovered today that they are about God's quest to restore prodigals!

The first part is rather obvious.

"Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:6, 7).

The very next verses are often quoted separately and used in all types of situations. " 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,' says the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts' " (vv. 8, 9). These words are true in all situations, but God's desire is that His people return to Him so that He can have mercy on them and abundantly pardon them, but they do have to forsake ways and thoughts that are not in harmony with His.

Then the very next verses talk about God's plan to bring back the lost. " 'For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it' " (vv. 10, 11). The rain and the snow accomplish what God sends it to do, and so will the Word. Salvation is accomplished through hearing the Word! Romans 10:13-14 says, "For 'whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?' "

You may be thinking that your prodigal has already heard, but some have even stopped believing in their Creator God. At the very least, they do not trust Him to give them the abundant life that Jesus came to provide. They all need to know Who He is, the God that the Bible reveals Him to be. They need to hear the Word, and they need for the Word they have already heard to accomplish God's purpose in their lives. Let's pray against any hindrance.

The Father wants all to come to Him, to be in fellowship with Him (2 Peter 3:9).

Prayer: Our Father, our prodigals have ways and thoughts that are not in harmony with yours. I thank You that they have had the Word preached to them in times past, and I pray that the Word which they have already heard with take root and grow, producing fruit 30, 60, 100 fold (Matthew 13:8). I also ask that You send laborers each day that will gently speak the Word to them (2 Timothy 2:25). If You want to use me, LORD, give me Your words for that moment and the opportunity. And Holy Spirit, You know the people I will encounter today, and You know the ones with hearts prepared to receive the Word. Give me words and opportunities to speak to them and to be the answer to another mother's/father's prayer. I pray against any hindrance in the lives of our prodigals that may be keeping them from salvation. I pray against "arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of [You]" and that "every thought" will be brought "into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.