Read Luke 15: 15-16 ESV
This study may seem prolonged; however, please stick with the progress; the end is worth it all!
Remember, when we left the youngest son, he was in need.
The one who had money to fling and didn’t need employment is now in need of a means to support himself. He tries to solve his own problems. The Prodigal Son hires himself out to a citizen of that country to feed the pigs—to carry waste and fodder to animals meant for slaughter.
Sometimes when we experience need, we attempt to fill or correct it by our own means, in our own strength, by our own power. We rely on our pull-up-your-big-girl-panties attitude to pull us out of our problems. We consider asking for help as a weakness, an admittance of failure, or just too much vulnerability.
OR—please consider this: we realize we have made bad choices and have been taught (directly or indirectly) that we “made our bed, now we have to sleep in it” mentality. We are convinced that we somehow have to find the way out on our own because we made the wrong choices. Quite often, this has been the narrative of my inner life.
Let’s return to our boy. Pay attention to the following detail. Jesus tells us that the young man longs to be fed with the pig pods—perhaps, these were carob pods used to fatten the swine and a source of food for the poor during seasons of famine. Regardless, he was so hungry and destitute that he considered ingesting the slop he threw over the fence to the swine.
But no one offered him anything. No one took notice of his need. No one saw that he was hungry.
If you find yourself with a need today, do you attempt to fix it yourself?
Are you hurting because no one has taken notice of your need?
Are you settling for the pods consumed in a famine?
Is there someone in your life right now who needs you to notice their need? Their hunger?
What could you offer them?
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