I was in a prodigal state 12 years ago. I feel as though Holy Spirit is directing me to write about this today, someone is either at the brink of falling, walking away from the Lord instead of towards Him – if that is you, please read this post and I will pray that Holy Spirit will give you ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart to receive what it is Holy Spirit wants you to know, just stop for a few minutes and read this post before continuing on… Maybe this is also for someone who has been a prodigal, you are what I call myself – an ex-prodigal. This post is also for you. My prayer is that you will take a much needed Holy Spirit moment and receive… This word is for YOU.
We have a common enemy you and I and he takes tremendous joy in attacking God’s people when they are at their most vulnerable state. I don’t know what you are going through, but I DO know what it feels like to experience a life situation that is like nothing in your repertoire of experience. Feeling like you are in a life situation that you never expected yourself to be in and you don’t know where to go or what to do with what you are feeling. A very serious “huh” moment, and you are on unfamiliar ground and you just want peace back. You want joy back and you don’t know which way to turn or how to “fix” whatever it is you are going through.
THIS IS WHERE YOU HAVE TO STOP, YOU ARE AT YOUR MOST VULNERABLE AND THE DEVIL LOVES TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PEOPLE WHO ARE VULNERABLE.
I know, I experienced it personally and I don’t want you to make the mistake that I did and fall RIGHT in his trap and let me tell you, his trap are not always obvious. I’m not going to specifically go into the details of my situation, but I will share this – when you are in the middle of “what am I going to do?” or “How did I get to this point?” or some type of out of control situation, this is where you need to put your trust in God.
TALK TO HIM. GOD IS LISTENING TO YOU, EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT FEELING HIS PRESENCE. REMEMBER, WE ARE NOT TO GO BY OUR FEELINGS. EVEN IF THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO IS CRY OUT “GOD, PLEASE HELP ME.” DO IT.
He says in Isaiah 41:10:
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Listen, you may be in full blown panic mode – looking for an out. Run TOWARDS God, don’t run away from Him! You may be feeling like a person who is drowning, all rationality may leave you in your panic, but the thrashing around will just tire you out and not help you. In the middle of the storm, Jesus is saying to you just as He said to the disciples during a storm at sea when He was sleeping and they were panicking (see Mark 4:39):
“PEACE BE STILL!”
God is GREATER than any and all situations, when you feel overwhelmed, run TO Him and not away. The enemy is banking on you running away from God’s protection. God’s promises. God’s love. Take note reader! You are at your MOST vulnerable and it is at this very moment that you NEED your Father’s protection, you NEED His arms around you, shielding you.
RUN TO HIM – NOT AWAY
Some traps of the enemy appears as “outs” and some of those traps are so subtle that you aren’t even aware of the fact that you are walking right into a trap… This was the case with me. Twelve years ago, I had no idea that what appeared to be an innocent escape from my life situation, was a subtle trap. Not all traps of the enemy are obvious. My trap was not drugs, was not alcohol, was not money, it was not pornography or any of the “usual-you-will-recognize-what-it-is-when-you-see-it” kind of trap. My “escape” door was very well planned by an enemy that had studied me all the days of my life, especially since I had become a personal threat to him, when I became a Born-Again believer and began to walk in accordance to God’s will for my life. You see, I am not a quiet Christian. I very LOUDLY proclaim my love and devotion to God, because He is my FIRST love. He is my life. He is my reason. I love Him passionately and I am not (and never will be) a quiet Christian. The enemy knew that… he also knew the calling that God has put on my life, I am a scribe for the Lord. Writing IS my worship. So, knowing that, what did the enemy do? The trap door he enticed me through was one that was RIGHT on the new laptop I had bought. The VERY tool that God used for me to walk in accordance to my calling, one of those already “downloaded” programs that came already installed on the laptop. I saw it, I had NO idea that I was walking right into a trap, and just wanting a distraction to my life’s chaotic situation, I innocently clicked on it and opened up a door I had no idea I was opening. It was a game. I will not name it, for I will not have it entice someone else. I walked into a trap and the trap I walked into opened up a world I had NO business walking into… And I will say this, although I walked INTO the trap innocently, not knowing what I was walking into, when Holy Spirit sent forth warnings, I was already lulled by a false sense of security. Remember, 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us:
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
This IS true, for EVERY temptation God WILL warn you with His Word, and He will provide a way out – BUT you have to take it. “Hansel and Gretel” is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm published in 1812 . It is the story of Hansel and Gretel. Hansel and Gretel were brother and sister who became lost in the woods. They come to a house that is made of gingerbread and candy not realizing that it was created by a cannibalistic witch who uses the house to entice children, fatten them up so that she can eat them. This story is a perfect analogy of what your enemy, the devil tries to do.
DON’T FALL FOR IT. RECOGNIZE THE ENEMY’S TACTICS.
Ephesians 5:15-17:
“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
The greatest thing you can do when you are feeling like you want to run, is to talk with God through prayer, open up the Word of God and let Holy Spirit minister the LIVING Word of God to you and your situation. Remember, with EVERY temptation God will provide a way out, but YOU have to take it.
LISTEN TO HOLY SPIRIT AND TAKE THE WAY OUT
I became entranced, as if in a spell of unreality. It replaced my reality. On one level, I realized what I had done, but I couldn’t get myself to leave unreality and go back to my reality. Don’t you know that one of the things our enemy does is counterfeit EVERYTHING God says? God Does? Remember he is the master deceiver and he is good at it. I pray that as you read these words that they jar you out of the way you are going and that you run STRAIGHT into the Father’s arms. There is no comfort to be found without God. And the areas where the Father is telling us “NO! DON’T DO THAT!” Are because He knows what the results will be… The results cost me much… But after a period of “huh?” time and a lot of self-damage, God with His infinite mercy, love and forgiveness and relentless perusal, delivered me. Really, woke me up to my situation. I recognized that I had walked into a trap, had chosen to stay there and horrified by my own actions, repented. The damage that had been done to my life was irreversible, (and this part is for those of you reading this that are also “Ex-Prodigals”) but just as in the story of the Prodigal Son (see Luke 15:11-32) I returned home to the Father. A different, humble, repented woman. I had been badly deceived. I was embarrassed, I was ashamed, I was hurting. Ironically, the way of escape I had allowed myself to delve into became a way of more pain than what I had been trying to escape from in the first place. That’s what the enemy does. That’s how he works. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:8:
“Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
And the tactics he uses vary… They will come in ways you least expect. I know, because I certainly did not expect it. Are you running from your reality? Check yourself. Like one of those “snake charmers” playing music to lull a snake – the snake, your enemy just *may* be trying to lull YOU right way from the Father. Right into harms way. Be wary.
If you are an Ex-Prodigal, know that the enemy’s tactics have changed. He hasn’t given up on you, oh no! In fact, you are now more of a threat to him than you were before because the very meaning of repent is this:
“To rearrange your entire way of thinking, feeling and being in order to forsake that which is wrong.”
Use your experience to help someone else. Warn someone else. I am very transparent with my walk, I share my experience as Holy Spirit leads me to do so. I am determine to live for Christ.
BE DETERMINED TO LIVE FOR CHRIST. WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED – SHARE AS HOLY SPIRIT LEADS YOU.
Throughout the Bible we hear of people who failed, but who God used MIGHTY much. Look at Sampson, Look at Noah (remember he drank too much!), Look at Solomon, Look at David! Look at Peter! These are to name just a few.
ALL THOSE PEOPLE ARE REAL LIFE PEOPLE THAT LIVES ARE IN THERE AS EXAMPLES FOR US TO LEARN FROM. GOD PURPOSELY HAS THEIR STORIES IN THERE FOR A REASON – LEARN FROM THEM, JUST AS IN THE STORY OF YOU, AS HOLY SPIRIT LEADS YOU TO SHARE – GOD WILL GIVE YOU DIVINE MOMENTS WITH PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN LEARN FROM YOUR PRODIGAL EXPERIENCE!
The truth of the matter is we ALL fail God at one point or another in our walk… We are an IMPERFECT people, the ONLY perfect person who ever lived is Jesus! My time as a prodigal hurt many people, but there is no one it hurt more than ME. I cannot go back and undo what I did, I can try to make restitution (and so can you), but there is no going back, only forward. Don’t be surprised by the enemy who will constantly remind you of your prodigal time, in fact – he might try to entice you back to it (or something similar) – don’t be fooled again.
BE WISE
If you are like me, an Ex-Prodigal you *may* still be hurting or healing from your experience… Recognize that you need continued healing before the Father. Give yourself time. Yes, you screwed up – but:
GOD FORGIVES
The hardest thing is forgiving yourself. The Bible says in Psalms 103:12:
“He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.”
Micah 7:19 says:
“He will again have compassion on us; He will subdue and tread underfoot our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” “
Sometimes, often really – the hardest part of being an Ex-Prodigal is the forgiving of ourselves… Especially if ol’ slewfoot uses people to remind you of your previous shortcomings, or people who can’t forgive you or won’t forgive you.Listen, Child of the Utmost High God:
YOU HAVE BEEN REDEEMED!
Remember, Jesus told those who were getting ready to stone the woman caught in the act of adultery in John 8:7:
“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Those that stand in accusation of you need to examine their own hearts. Or as indicated in Matthew 7:5:
“You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Don’t let people define who you are, be it loved ones, co-workers, whatever/whoever, that is not there place. Pray for them and ask God to change their hearts. Sin IS sin, there is NO degree of sin. It is ALL sin! You can’t change them, stop trying to be a “people pleaser” and be MORE concerned about what it is God thinks. What it is God wants. What it is God is calling you to do. God will deal with their unforgiveness. Remember the Bible says in Matthew 6:14-15:
“Forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Listen, you just let God define you. You may have been caught unaware and walked into a trap of the enemy, but it didn’t come as a surprise to God.
HE SEES ALL THINGS. HE KNOWS ALL THINGS.
What have I learned from my prodigal experience? The biggest lesson of all:
IT IS NOTHING BUT GOD’S GRACE, GOD’S LOVE, GOD’S FORGIVENESS, GOD’S MERCY THAT SAVES AND KEEPS ME
This word was difficult for me to write, but I am called to be a Scribe for the Lord. We are each called to be vessels of God’s purpose with our lives, your calling may be different than mine, but it is just as special. We are to take what we learn, what we go through and extend the right hand of fellowship behind us to help someone else who is either going through what we ourselves have gone through, or who IS just at that point where they *may* walk right into an unexpected trap of the enemy. God uses people, I pray that you will allow Him to use you as His vessel, that He may be glorified through your life to prosper and help someone else. Someone who needs to know that God loves them. That God sees them. That God IS there. Because beloved,
HE IS.
Is Holy Spirit speaking to your heart through this word? If so, leave a comment below! I love hearing from you!
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