Finding His Way Home
On a weekday morning last month, I was working out at the gym and looking for who God would want me to talk to while there. A young man in his 20s, Emre*, had spoken with me before, but this time the conversation turned more serious.
He confided about having a fractured and unhappy life, feeling unworthy of love and having a heavy sense of being “a bad person.” (The last of these confessions is not a common one for people to make, especially in Fotizo culture.) Emre said he was far from God—if God was even real. “And if He does exist, Daniel*, do you think He would really love a person like me, who has done so much wrong?” he asked.
Well, God is real. He was also up to something. As Emre said goodbye and was leaving the gym that day, I felt prompted by God’s Spirit to message him the text of the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32) and invite him to coffee the next day. At coffee is when I would learn how much the Lost Son’s story would connect with his story.
As we sat in the coffee shop that chilly morning, Emre shared more of his past: life disappointments, relational distance from his biological father—whom he felt like he particularly disappointed, and actions he had taken which had separated him from others he loved. Ultimately, he desired restoration, but feelings of unworthiness have kept him from moving toward any of those people again. (Sound familiar?)
So we read over the passage in Luke 15 again and talked about several other passages that demonstrate God’s love, even for those who have done evil or are His enemies (that was all of us once).
We talked about how Jesus didn’t come to ask the righteous to follow Him, but those who know they are sinners—because those are the only people who will receive His help! Jesus and the Father still love sinners. Emre began to understand this theme in theory, but it feels like there are still walls up in his heart or patterns of thought that keep him frozen in place, either unable or unwilling to surrender to the Father’s love and trust Him.
The Father wants Emre and many others like him to not only know about His heart full of love for him—He is eager for them to come home and experience that love. He doesn’t care if we are “lovely” or “worthy” in the world’s eyes—He will make us lovely and worthy.
Two invitations:
1.) Wherever you are at in your life journey today, let yourself sink back into the Father’s love. Take a step towards the one who says, “Draw near to me, and I will draw near to you.” He is our hearts’ true home.
2.) Pray for Emre and others like him. Pray he will experience the Father’s love, both now and when we talk, and that he would open his heart and mind and “come home” to God Who is ready to welcome him with open arms and celebration.
*Names changed for security