Desperate Circumstances

And when he had spent everything . . . he began to be in want.

Luke 15:14 RSV

Signposts along the highway are there to keep us from getting lost and to keep us safe by regulating our speed and warning us of sharp turns, detours, and other hazards. And when we ignore these signposts, we do so at our own peril.

In the familiar story of the Prodigal Son, the young man ignores every signpost God has erected to keep him from desperate circumstances. Long before the young man reached the pigpen where he finally “came to his senses,” he had numerous opportunities to turn around, to repent, and to go home.

His problems began long before he asked his father for his inheritance and then threw it away on “wine, women, and song.” He was not satisfied to be in his father’s house with all of his needs met. He wanted more. He believed the lie that something more exciting was in store for him away from his father.

Isn’t this how we sometimes behave? We think that God is holding out on us, that there is something better than a close relationship with our Heavenly Father, that the world has more excitement and fulfillment to offer us than God does. By thinking this way and then by acting as the Prodigal Son did, we create our own desperate circumstances. Then we turn to God and cry out in the midst of our desperation.

Fortunately, like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son, our Father always hears our cries. But it would be so much better if we would not get into desperate circumstances in the first place. That is why God has erected signposts along life’s road—to help keep us out of trouble. They include reading His Word daily, praying “without ceasing,” and determining to seek His will for our lives.

Such a path is sure to see us home safely.

Our Father and our God, hear my cry for help! I have followed a foolish path, and now I’m in trouble. Rescue me, O Lord, from my foolishness, and save me from my sin. I can’t survive without You. You are the source of all comfort and forgiveness. And I know You will welcome me home with open arms because of my Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).