i've had several friends and family through the years that have walked away from the lord
it's been hard and they've experienced church hurt or hypocrisy or you know whether at home
or anywhere else and it's it's so hard when people that actually know the truth
and have experienced the truth and they choose to walk away i'm a sympathetic crier so thank you
this is 40. i cried everything now i understand but yeah it it it hurts because you know that
their life could be so much better to walk with the lord than to walk apart from him
and i think of that verse i think it's in romans 2 4 and it says it's the kindness of god
that leads us to repentance and that's my prayer because you do you want to grab him you want to
shake him you want to beat them over the head with that bible and be like you know better what
is wrong with you right but my prayer now is god that they'll remember your kindness
that you're not an angry god like you were saying the other day you're not a harsh god you're a god
full of compassion a god full of kindness and that's my prayer is that they'll remember that
but practically speaking you know what what have i done
in the waiting and hoping that they'll come back to the lord is to just show them love that's it
that's it is to just be there for them when they need it to send that text message
to go to those parties right to show up at their house with food when they're sick to actually
practically be the hands and feet of jesus so that i'm undoing all the other things that they saw
right from other christians or whatever that they equated to god when other christians hurt them oh
that's god hurting them instead of understanding hurt people hurt people right god did not hurt
you right but that's kind of the mindset that they live in especially those that have chosen
to walk away from the truth and so practically speaking it's showing them that love and then
also being real like when i went through what i went through three years ago being real in that
struggle right being real in the questioning but then also being real in that hard-fought victory
listen i'm gonna go through hard times like a few months ago i posted about i deal you know with
three autoimmune issues like i had mentioned the other day and i had a really bad flare um which
put me in bed for like two days and i posted just you know about a scripture that i was reading in
the midst of it and i had a family member reach out and she texted me and she was just like i
just want you to know how much that blessed me and this is someone that has not walked with
the lord who is very loudly living her life apart from god um and apart from scripture and just her
saying that and reaching out on her own that that scripture meant something to her my prayer is that
that's the seed right and my prayer is that on the other side of it at some point that she'll come
back right to knowing the lord and all of that because the truth of the matter is a life without
jesus or life with jesus doesn't guarantee us free of trials and tribulations right jesus said right
jesus said himself in john 16 in this world you will have trouble but take heart i have overcome
the world right so we're not guaranteed it but we are guaranteed that we don't have to walk through
it alone we are guaranteed that we have the victory and we are guaranteed that there's a hope
but yes i'm with you it is so hard to walk through those seasons on how to practically do that it's
tricky like that it's interesting there's a couple stories in the bible you know with jesus
telling that parable of the lost sheeps right you protect the 99 and went and found that one
and brought it back but this is a different story this prodigal son because yep the father didn't
go after the son the son wanted to leave and the father goes here's your income go
if you want to go go and so i he didn't chase him down and i think because he he he was a son he
knows the way home yeah and so i think sometimes i've made the mistake of chasing down the
chasing down those who know how to come back who know the way home and so that's where
perhaps i become enabling to people or all the things i would do
but it's not my job my job is to stand just where the father stood in the same spot posture be the
same be loving be consistent be whole do the best i can to be christ-like in faith right right in
faith and then like this yeah waiting waiting and i'll run as soon as you start coming back but
i've made the mistake of chasing after him and it never go it never turns out well because the only
way somebody really will come back is when they've made the turn right right when they've turned that
corner and as a mother we i mean we have mother's hearts for my people right right so you want to go
and chase after it and i've made that mistake so many times so it's just like now it makes me
laugh because it reminds me of like an image and they're like looking back singing like
someone's chasing me and they just run faster because someone's chasing me and they just like
keep running faster and faster to the wrong way because you're like and all you're trying to do
is be like i just have to catch you because i got to show you that's the wrong oh you're
going the wrong way and they're like someone's chasing me i got to go no no not someone yeah
molly yeah they just keep running faster and faster i mean honestly it's what happens when it
was me that's what happened everybody that chased me i was like i'm just gonna keep going further
away from you because i don't really like this i haven't ever been like i've prayed for friends
but i was the daughter that my parents were praying for i was the one that they were constant
and they didn't actually chase me in all my sin they stayed where they were but they never quit
loving me they never quit praying for me or give they never gave up on me they never i don't know
it was a safe it remained this i know that it was a safe place to go back to like i never
doubted that you would be welcomed right is this a safe place now and i think now as a mom like ethan
and i've had conversations what will we do when our children come to us we pray it never happens
but what if they come to us and they say hey we've made all the wrong decisions
i want to prepare my response so that my like shock doesn't cause anger because in that moment
i could actually do more damage than blessing but the father i think spent a lot of time
saying when he comes home here's what i'm gonna do here's how i'm gonna handle
it here's what i'm gonna say to him here's what i've been thinking about and instead of
like i think sometimes we stew and we're like oh when they get back i'm going to tell them do you
know all the trouble you caused me do you know how much i prayed for you do you know all the
you know it's like they didn't say all that no and my favorite part of this story the part that
wrecked me when i was lost was it says the father ran to him yes the thing is is like that was a
long journey home i wonder what the conversation was i wonder if the sun was silent the whole way
going when we get back you're about to beat the living daylights out of me when nobody can see me
you know like i wonder if he was fearful i wonder where his mind was but unless i just love the fact
that he didn't have to make the whole walk go home right alone he got somebody to walk with
him that probably spent the whole time saying i'm so glad you're back at tbn our mission is
to use every available means to reach as many individuals and families as possible with the
life-changing gospel of jesus christ thank you for helping make the gospel of grace go around
the world and it's because of you that partner with us that this ministry continues god bless you