How many times have we found ourselves angry at God? Wondering why he is seemly answering everyone else’s prayers but ours. Today I want to talk about the story of the prodigal son, however, my focus will not be on the brother who left but rather on the brother who stayed.
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“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
The bible says that the older brother remained with his father after he received his share of the money. He spent his time wisely working hard and helping out, and asking for very little from his father. During this time we see this man as a very hard working and loving son. It isn’t until his brother returns that we see the demeanor of the older son change. He becomes very angry and decides he is not going to join the celebration, and the father is made aware of his sons frustration by one of his servants.
What I find to be interesting is the way the father responded to the son who stayed. He said, “you are always with me, everything I have is yours.” In essence his father is saying, if you would have just asked me I would have given it to you or ” you have not because you ask not.” James 4:2 The older brother thought he was doing his father a favor by not asking him for anything, but he wasn’t. If he would have asked for the things that he wanted, his father would have given it to him and he would have been happy to see his brother.
What haven’t you asked our heavenly father to give you? You may feel it is too trivial or too great to ask him. Our heavenly father is saying, the reason we get angry when we look at the blessings of others is because we have not asked our heavenly father to give us the desires of our heart. There are a few who have asked the Lord for the desires of their heart and are still waiting for him to bless them.
What are you doing while you wait? Are you preparing yourself to receive the blessing you desire? God isn’t going to just lay it in your lap. I bet if you ask the person you admire what they did to get what they have, it wouldn’t be as simple as “I don’t know, I just kind of stumbled into it.” The truth is God has no perspectives of persons. If you and I are willing and ready to work hard God will bless our efforts as well.
Challenge: What do you desire? What steps can you take toward reaching those goals? You may be waiting for the Lord to open a door for you or to give you favor in a particular area, and that’s fine. However, you must make sure that you are prepared for the blessing you desire, or it could feel more like a curse having the opportunity to be blessed but not being able to keep it because you were not ready for it.
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