Fatherly Patience

Luke 15:11-32 – And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

There comes a time in our lives when we feel confident about a decision to make. We think about it, mull it over, ask others about it…then we act. Thinking about the younger son above, I’m sure his decision to ask for his inheritance early may not have been a spontaneous decision. He might have thought about it and believed it was the best decision for his life at that time. However, it is intriguing that the father didn’t say anything to the younger son.

He could have told him, ‘No, you’ll only waste away your inheritance long before it is due. I will not give it to you for your own good.’ How many of us would have said this?!

Knowing most of us, we would have stop this decision LONG before it could even begin, but the father provides the inheritance with no ‘fanfare.’ The son goes off and spends all of his money and finds himself living worse than he ever had with his father. The length of time it took for the son to spend all of his inheritance wasn’t told, but for a mighty famine to arise in the land, it had to be a good while. Even through this, the father patiently waits at home.

When the son does return (ashamed, humbled, and repentant), the father lovingly accepts his son and calls for a feast. Throughout the entire process, the father probably knew what was going to occur, but he patiently waited for his son and allowed his son to learn a very important (and costly) lesson.

There are many times when the Father is very patient with us. We make all types of decisions, believing they are the best for our lives. However, they lead us down rocky paths. There are some lessons people have to learn for themselves…the long and hard way. These ‘lessons’ stay with us a lot longer than being told ‘no’ at the onset. Even though years and even decades may pass before the realization of our poor decisions, we can look to God and thank Him for His patience, love, and mercy.

Psalm 108:4 – For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.

^{Photo courtesy of freeimages.com/Anton Malan}