Two weeks ago, I talked about hoping when all hope is gone. Today I’d like to talk a little more about hopelessness. I was hopeless because a doctor I’d depended on had failed to find the solution to my illness, and had, in fact, led me to believe my problem was “just nerves.” However, there are many other reasons people may feel hopeless─a bad marriage, a terminal health condition, a prodigal son or daughter, financial problems, an addiction, and many more.

Charles Stanley says personal failure is also a thief of hope. This certainly applies to the prodigal son, out of money in a foreign country experiencing a severe famine. He was so desperate he hired himself out to feed pigs, a particularly demeaning position for a Jew. His hunger was so strong that even the pigs’ food looked good. Hopelessness must have been his constant companion.

But it was in this hopeless situation that we’re told the prodigal “came to himself,” or “came to his senses.” Andrew Breeden of The Upper Room says, “Few words give me more hope than those four. The prodigal came to himself. The more I sit with the story, the more compelled I am by the beauty of the prodigal’s revelation while feeding the pigs─that moment when something gone quite awry became the grace that saved him. And this brings me hope─for myself and for everyone…The point of the story is that there is hope. No matter the pigpen I am in, I can come to myself.”

I love the words of the prodigal in verse 18 of Luke 15, “I will arise and go to my father…” When the wayward son came to his senses, he knew where to go! He might have said, as people sometimes do, “I brought it all on myself. I can’t expect my father (God) to help me now.” But instead, he arose and went to his father with words of repentance─ and received far better than he deserved. He was restored to his position as a son!

While hopeless situations may seem like the end of the world, they may actually be the beginning. They can be the incentive we need to “come to our senses.” They can be the agent of change that prompts us to “arise and go to our Father” with words of repentance on our lips. He is longing to restore us to our position as sons and daughters of His.

 Whatever pigpen I find myself in today, I will arise and go to my Father.

First photo today from Helpinghurtingparentsofprodigals.wordpress.com.