Day 4 | Surrender

Command:

Read:

So he had this moment of self-reflection: What am I doing here? Back home, my father’s hired servants have plenty of food. Why am I here starving to death? I’ll get up and return to my father, and I’ll say, ‘Father, I have done wrong—wrong against God and against you.’” Luke 15:17-18 (VOICE)

Reflect:

When I was a new mother, someone told me, “It doesn’t get better. It doesn’t get worse. It just changes.” I did trade sleepless nights with a newborn for sleepless nights waiting for a teenager to come home. However, eventually being a parent did “get better.” But first, it was very hard. 

One of my children chose a self-destructive road of addiction that lasted many years. He turned away from the faith and values that we had tried to teach him in his younger years. I fought it with all I had. I tried threatening, restricting, tough love and more. I prayed. I laid awake at night trying to think of answers.

Eventually, I gave up trying to find answers. I surrendered. I stopped trying to be his savior and realized his hope was between him and Jesus. My job was to pray and wait.

The Father in this parable doesn’t run after the son. He waits. I imagine the son’s “moment of self-reflection” was the Holy Spirit speaking to his heart. He finally hit rock bottom and was ready to listen to Jesus. 

In the same way, my son eventually hit rock bottom and the Lord led him out of that dark journey. He gave my son the strength to get sober and change the trajectory of his life. His sobriety wasn’t my work. He has a savior and it isn’t me. 

My son has been sober for 12 years. It’s my privilege as a parent to watch God’s amazing work continue. I praise God for his work, not mine.

React:

What do you need to surrender to the Father?

Pray:

Father, thank you for not forcing your will on me, but instead waiting with open arms for me to turn to you. Today I surrender to your will and your ways.