In my mind during this second week of Lent, I have been thinking about troublesome children. Even the ultimate Father has had trouble from the beginning with disobedient children. This week we read about Cain slaying his brother Abel. The always classic The Prodigal Son which has many levels of perspectives. Students, kids have been acting up from the beginning of human existence. So back row that is comforting to know, but there is a cure for troublesome people.
Do you have siblings? Do you always agree? You may not even like your siblings, but hopefully you want the best for them. Cain killed his brother with no remorse. He had a hardened heart. His sacrifice to God was remnants of his crops when his brother gave the best first born livestock. This enraged Cain and God in different ways. Abel was murdered and Cain was cursed to wander with curse or mark to prevent an immature death. He was reduced to a lonely nomad. I wonder if he ever thought of turning back to God for forgiveness. He had received the mercy of God because he was allowed to live. My question is students, when does God’s Grace enter into the story? That’s right front row, John 3:16.
The Prodigal Son narrative could be applied to Cain and Abel. Something had changed. In Luke 15:1-32, the Prodigal Son came back. The other son that never left had a hardened heart. He never shirked his duties or squandered his family’s money. He is in no way happy. He starts the competition and comparison mind games. He can’t understand how after all that his brother did, the Father let him waltz right back into the family, gave him a new fancy robe with a ring, and threw a huge party. Mercy. Plain and simple. He had lost everything but his soul. Students, the stuff in this Earthly life doesn’t matter. It’s those precious souls of those we love that are all that matter. The wise Father saw the contrite heart of his son and poured out his Mercy. Mercy is an undeserved gift and our God gives it to us daily. It is a hard concept to grasp.
The other brother was confused because he didn’t understand. Should he not be celebrated for never going astray? I see this dynamic in almost every family today especially with drug addictions. Parents are so merciful to this generation of Prodigal children who continue to return to the addiction. I have witnessed them bouncing back and forth between home, jail, treatment, and the streets. Healing is not happening. We need change especially with our juvenile system. I have found that these children have been broken down by a lack of proper love as a child. It’s not always the parents and can be another relative or friend of the family. As American family structure continues to erode without guidance of the agape love model, self-sacrificing for others, especially your spouse and children the numbers of broken people grow creating collapsed, broken, chaotic society.
Marriage is hard. Sprinkle in a couple of children with tremendous amounts of needs, it gets hard. Why? Your amount of time shrinks, especially sleep time. I used to think I’ll never get to sleep again. It was a team effort. My sweet husband would take the three boys to record shows; he was an avid music collector. Saturday they would head to Memphis, TN and I would sleep late and have supper waiting when they got home. Agape love, we had it. Now my kids have it for each other. I pray every day for their spouse and future spouses to have the true sacrificial love that only comes from God above us. I pray for all Christians turn back to God this Lent. It doesn’t matter what the situation or sin is. Experience the fullness of His Mercy.
Sarah Anderson Alley
Sal the Mercy Loving Gal
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