Digging Deeper

‘”My wayward children,” says the Lord, “come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts”‘.

Jeremiah 3:22

Have ya’ll ever heard the story of the prodigal son?

I’m sure you have at one point, but if not let me paint you a picture.

A father had two sons and the younger son asked to have his share of the inheritance early. The father did as the son asked—and he took the money, left home, and spent it all on reckless, temporary fulfilling things. He found himself poor, alone, hungry, and ashamed of his actions. He decided he would go home and beg his father to let him come back as a servant instead of a son. Now listen to this,

“And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him”.

Luke 15:20

Instead of his father becoming angry and punishing him for wasting all of the money, he embraced him and kissed him. Even better, he was expectantly waiting for his son to return and when he finally did, he ran to him. He looked past all of the mistakes his son had made and welcomed him back home with love and compassion. All that mattered in that moment was that his son had decided to come home—and this filled him with utter joy.

Isn’t this such a beautiful story? Can I let you in on a secret—friends, this is how the Lord reacts when we decide to come home. When we decide to stop trying to live this life on our own; when we humble ourselves at the feet of our Father asking for His grace to cover us—He shows up. He shows up with love and compassion; graciously welcoming us into His arms, looking past every wrong decision we made while we were gone and living this life our own way.

Vulnerability can be scary, but I believe God can use my “messy” to help others. So, this is why I choose to be honest with ya’ll and share with you that I have been away from home for far too long. I’ve allowed my mental battles to take my eyes off of Jesus. I began to hang around bad influences where I chose to set aside my morals and values. I stopped caring about my purity and let lust flood my heart—getting into relationships that weren’t healthy for my soul. I dug myself into this hole until I found myself poor and feeling homeless—living in a place I didn’t expect myself to be in, like the prodigal son. I hit rock bottom and my only choice was to sit at the feet of my Father, asking Him to forgive me for the sin I had been living in. I had to set aside my pride and confess the ugliness that had clouded my heart and mind. The Lord welcomed me back home with love and open arms and now, we’re on this journey of life together.

Friends, are you far from home? Do you need to run back to your Father? Do you need His grace and peace to cover you today? The Lord is willing—He is desperately and expectantly waiting for your return. He loves you and just wants to hold you. Will you let Him?

Jesus loves you and so do I,

-Malia