Jump Start # 877

Luke 15:14 “Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, so he began to be impoverished.”

We are looking this week at the parable of the prodigal son. There are several things about that younger son that we notice. He was rash, he was demanding, he seemed spoiled, he didn’t like things at home. Our verse today also shows that he didn’t plan well. He never thought about being broke. What would happen after he spent everything? He never anticipated a famine. The famine didn’t come when he had money. It came after he spent everything. They usually do.

The prodigal’s lack of foresight and planning led him to being impoverished. He was now worse off than he was at home. At home, he had a roof over his head, food to eat and security and safety. He was now on the streets. He had no one to help him. He was in trouble. His dreams became a nightmare. Things didn’t turn out as he had expected.

Famines happened a lot in the Bible. It was a famine that brought Jacob and his sons to Egypt where Joseph was able to feed them and take care of them. God sent famines in the O.T. to punish His rebellious people.

We have famines, not so much droughts and lack of food, but difficult periods of life that often come when we are “broke.” There are financial droughts when it seems everything breaks and there is no “extra” money to be found. There are emotional famines which drain us  mentally. There are spiritual famines which leave us empty and alone. Famines come. Famines are devastating.

Looking at this passage, it is easy to see a sure fix and solution to the famine. The prodigal should not have spent everything. Had he saved some he would have escaped the famine. But that is part of the story. That is a point that makes this so real and vivid. We don’t think. We don’t anticipate. We walk through life as if everything will be alright. We never expect to be downsized or the company sold and we become unemployed. We never expect the car to break down, the same time the bill comes for college and after we have made a big purchase. We don’t expect the preacher to get sick and die, or one of the shepherds to be transferred and the flow and energy of the church changes. We don’t expect, but it seems that the prudent ought to. The unexpected always happens. It is the unexpected that throws us for a loop and messes up everything that we had planned.

For the prodigal, the famine was a good thing. He didn’t see it at the moment. It led to him eventually going back home. Had he not become impoverished,  had there not been a famine, had he not spent everything, he would have gone deeper into loose living and gotten further away from home. The famine was a good thing for the prodigal. It dropped him to his knees and made him see himself as he really was—alone, broke and helpless.

The context tells us that “no one was giving him anything to eat…” No one. No friends. No compassion. No one seemed to care. No one was going to help him. The famine for the prodigal was more than a lack of food. It was a lack of options. It was a lack of support. It was being alone totally. It was being hopeless and helpless.

Today, many would point fingers and find fault with the people who were around the prodigal. We would think the farmer who sent the prodigal to feed the pigs should have at least given him a sandwich. No one. Nothing. That is the state of hopelessness. That leads to a person coming to their senses. Could it be that some never do that because there is always a parent to bail them out, a church to help them, a government to assist them, a program to sign up for, a way to keep them from reaching the bottom. So we never hit bottom. We struggle, we sink, but we never bottom out. We continue on recklessly and irresponsibly, getting by, surviving until the next famine.

It is hard to watch someone sink to the bottom. Our hearts long for better days. We reach into our pockets and help them out. And they get by. The bottom won’t be today. Another famine, another desperate time and again they survive. This is so hard for parents. Some of you have prodigals. Your hearts ache for them. You hate to see them throw away their lives with drugs, alcohol and crime. They get arrested and you get the phone call. Your heart breaks. You help them out. You give them a lecture. You invite them to church. They get by, this time. Then there is another famine. Most of these famines could be avoided it they planned better, or if they weren’t so wasteful, but they never learn. Again, parents are called upon to help out. Promises are made, but rarely kept. The parents become weary, stressed and worried. Will the child ever get it? What will happen when the parents are out of the picture? Maybe, possibly, the parents need to step back with their grown children and let them hit bottom. Maybe then they will see what everyone can see. That is so hard to do.

It is hard to pray for a person to hit bottom. We want the best for those we care about. But hitting bottom may wake up the wayward husband, the irresponsible child, the selfish wife. Rarely will you hear a prayer in church for a person to spend the night with pigs. Rarely will you see someone rejoice that a person has reached bottom. But without the bottom, the prodigal never turned. It was being so hungry that he wanted dry, hard pods that pigs eat that opened his eyes.

Three simple lessons:

1. Famines come. Be prepared.

2. Pray that God will open your eyes to see yourself as you really are.

3. We are responsible for ourselves. Expecting, demanding, wanting someone, anyone to help us is not the answer.

Tomorrow, he came to his senses. It took famines, pigs and poverty to open those stubborn eyes, but they finally opened when he hit bottom.

Roger