NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

Having Heart In A Sometimes Heartless World Day 37 - Naughty or Nice - Not The Point Scripture focus: God speaks 'You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'He did not make me'? Can the pot say of the potter, 'He knows nothing'? Isaiah 29:16 NIV "I just don't get it. We are good people. Why is this happening to us?" Do you remember the parable of the prodigal son? One son, the wild child, demands his inheritance and runs off to the big city - squandering his trust fund on wild women and all manner of bad behaving. The compliant son stays at home, working diligently for his dad. After the wild son has a moment of clarity, he returns home with his head down and shoulders slumped. His plan for reconciliation involves a lot of groveling. However, he doesn't implement his plan. His father rushes out to greet him and throws a big feast in his honor. This, of course, upsets the dutiful son, who accuses his father of mistreatment. Why, he asks, should the wild hyena of a son get a big party when he, the good son, does not? My dad might chime in and blog a different opinion, but I think he'd say that I probably had more in common with the compliant kid then the wild one. And that's true. I understand the dutiful son's perspective. Why didn't the father require some humble groveling on the part of the errant boy? He squandered his father's inheritance! He behaved badly! Where were his consequences? Any dutiful kid knows that when the party animal skulks in from a night of revelry, he should at least have to grovel!! Does this sound personal? It is! One of my brothers (to remain unnamed in this story - but you know who you are) once stayed out almost all night having fun with his friends. I, the reasonably dutiful daughter, was convinced that a brother of MINE would only miss curfew if he had been seriously injured. I feared for his safety. I imagined a car accident, or a mugging. He could be hurt, and unable to crawl to a pay phone to let me know he needed me!!! (Any signs of early codependency in this story?) My father seemed unconvinced by my theory. I wanted to call the FBI. Dad wanted to go to bed. Eventually, that naughty boy dragged himself home. I was fit to be tied. Seeing that he was not injured, I quickly moved from fear to furious. I demanded my father do something!! "Where have you been?" I shouted. "Dad, don't just stand there do something!" My brother, in a calm and level voice replied, "I'm tired and it's been a long night. I'm going to bed. Let's talk about this tomorrow." And they let him!!! I couldn't believe it! I thought he deserved a serious smiting. But since the prodigal had returned home without apparent injury to self or vehicle, everyone marched off to bed. One more story. Recently I was at a gathering and an old high school buddy was present. A story or two was shared that reminded me that perhaps I wasn't always as well-behaved and compliant as I liked to think. I may have made curfew, but it's possible that I did it by driving more like a prodigal than a dutiful daughter. Here's my point. Whether we think we've been naughty or nice, good or bad, right or wrong, is not the determining factor when it comes to explaining the reasons for suffering. Suffering happens. What is crucial to remember in the midst of any season of suffering is this: God sees our misery, hears our cries for relief, responds and rescues - in the way he sees fit. There is a God - we did not get the job. Productive suffering requires that we acknowledge God's authority in all things. He will respond in his time, in his way, in keeping with his prevailing purposes. We follow his lead, not vice versa. Recommended reading: Exodus 24 and 25 in the morning; Matthew 25 in the evening Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 TNIV Click "Comments" Below to Join the Discussion Scroll down to the Archive Section to View Previous Devotionals.