At the top of the page in my Daily Light devotional for June 20th were the following handwritten words, “Zach returned from Australia tonight after nine months at school. Plane delayed in Los Angeles (LAX) for over six hours! 2015.” Thanksgiving rose up within me as I remembered the beautiful harvest which had blossomed from seeds of prayer and faith amidst difficult days.
From the time our only child, Zach, was a little over four years old, he grew up in a typical Christian home. When he was six years old, he entered into a relationship with Jesus at an outreach event at our friends' church. My husband, Pete, and I tried to live out our faith during the week as well as on Sundays. I looked for natural opportunities to weave discussions about God and Jesus into our conversations as we lived out our lives of faith.
Although our son grew up in a typical Christian family, we were also an atypical family. From the time Zach was four years old to the time he was fourteen years old, I experienced not one but four different cancers (stage four ovarian, a tumor around my sciatic nerve, colon, and breast). Early on in my cancer journey, I came to know Jesus personally, and He carried me through . . . one day at a time. As a family, we came to experience the truth of Luke 1:37 (ESV), “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Although Zach had a strong foundation of faith, it began wavering as he grew older. Zach attended a Christian college for part of his college years, and some of the hypocrisy he witnessed at school bore fruit of disdain in his life for the church along with most Christians. The intense pain of this situation birthed much prayer in me as I sought to take back the ground the Enemy had stolen.
Sadly, if I mentioned anything to Zach related to spiritual matters, a wall would immediately go up between us. I couldn't even mention things I was praying about; things that had nothing to do with him. The invisible wall was spiritually discernible, and I knew that Zach was living on the broad road rather than the narrow road we had prayed for; “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt. 7:14). The changes in his life and our relationship were shocking. I had a prodigal son on my hands and was depending on God and His grace to see us through.
God knew the pain I was enduring as a mom. One day I sensed Him impressing on my heart not to mention anything to Zach that was faith related. Instead, I was to pray the following prayer which rose up within me: “ That Zach would have a passion for God and His Word.” That inspired prayer became the cry of my heart as I daily abided in Jesus and God's Word.
While I battled in prayer for Zach, God was working behind the scenes in Zach's heart; a fact I learned much later on. One day, Zach was at a coffee shop when he noticed a familiar looking guy come in. He approached Zach and they soon figured out they had gone to the same high school. During their conversation, his high school acquaintance mentioned he sensed God had given him a message for Zach. The message? "If you come back to God, He is going to use you in amazing ways."
When Pete was out of town one Sunday, Zach agreed to join me at church. As the guest speaker spoke that day, the following thought just popped into my mind. “I should ask the speaker to pray for Zach.” After the service, I mentioned this to Zach and he amazingly agreed to let me approach the speaker for prayer. The speaker agreed and he prayed over Zach.
That same week, Zach began researching Bible schools. What?! He showed Pete and I a website for a Bible school in Australia. He also pointed out the surfing opportunity there! Looking at the school's website we discovered the cost of tuition, housing, etc. and found out the school required their students to fundraise for their expenses. Zach would need to raise thousands of dollars in order to attend there. As we had come to believe in prior years, nothing is impossible with God.
In no time at all, Zach had applied for and was accepted into the Bible school in Australia. His fundraising account was also set up and money started coming in. Zach still had a lot of money to raise when we happened to attend a different church one Sunday. During the sermon, the pastor made the following comment: “If you believe God has really called you to do something, He will provide.” I instantly knew this comment was heaven-sent and God would indeed provide the rest of the needed funds.
Of course, God was faithful, and Zach reached his large fundraising goal. In September of 2014, Zach took off for a nine-month Bible school experience in Australia. By the time he and the other students graduated, they had read through each of the sixty-six books of the Bible five times.
Zach returned home to Minneapolis in June of 2015. In his nine months away, God had truly birthed something new in him. He had been transformed through his time in God's Word and a true miracle had taken place in his heart. He had a passion for God and His Word . . . exactly what God had prompted me to pray for him long before he had even considered Bible school as an option. My heart and Pete's overflowed with thanks and praise to our faithful God. He had done great things for us, and we were filled with joy! A joy which remains for us. Zach still has a passion for God and His Word; he is now sharing it with others.
God loves our prodigal son even more than we do. As our Good Shepherd, He leaves the ninety-nine in search of the one. He works behind the scenes in ways we might not find out about until much later on. God has good plans for us . . . and for our prodigals. Even if the wait is a long one.
The personal notes I’ve recorded in my devotional regarding Zach's return from Australia remind me of the Israelites' stones taken from the Jordan River. After God had cut off the waters in order for them to cross on dry ground, they took stones of remembrance out of the river. In the future, when their children asked them what the stones meant, they were to tell them how God had cut off the waters of the Jordan so they could cross over. Stones of remembrance. Notes of remembrance (such as my Daily Light notes). These items help us to remember what God has done for us.
When God brings our prodigals home may we never forget His beautiful work of grace. It will be another facet of the work of mercy and grace which we, as Christians, already know something about. We once were lost, too, but now we’re found. Thank You, Jesus, for all You have done. Thank You, God, for Your heart for the prodigal. As a former prodigal myself, You have given me Your heart for them as well.
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