Proverbs 22:6
King James Version
6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

This verse is not talking about age but about maturity.

There is a time frame of which the length cannot be determined. Its a space in time between when one is a child to when one becomes mature.

That in-between time can feel like forever. Just like the minutes of being caught in a tornado or hurricane feels like an eternity that won’t end.

But remember that tornados and hurricanes do pass.  Nevertheless, there is an aftermath and the damage trail differs from place to place, from story to story.

As we look at the story of the prodigal we are not going to look at the aftermath of the tornado called Prodigal. Instead, we are going to look at the breaking heart of his father.

The father of the prodigal is said to have watched day to day in the window for the return of his prodigal. That is where the lesson is found. He didn’t give up on watching and waiting for his son to return. He knew that the child would one day mature and he waited.

That must have seemed like an eternity

But that storm did pass as he looked out his window one day and saw his prodigal coming down the street returning tattered and torn.

The father of the prodigal didn’t wait for his prodigal to get all the way to his doorstep.

It is said that he ran out to meet the prodigal.

He hugged and kissed his prodigal and called for a robe and ring to be given to him as he welcomed him back home and prepared a celebration for his return.

He was glad to have his son back and he spoke of it as having received his son back from the dead – a resurrection, a restoration.

That great joy overwhelmed and overtook the many days of the pain of heart he experienced as he daily looked for his prodigal to return.

I can only imagine that this is the same pain of heart that our Father has had to experience in reference to us.

Each of us has been prodigal like in our behavior at some point in our journey in this that we call life.

Oh, Lord God Almighty, thank you for your mercifulness and for being so long-suffering towards us.

I’ve heard parents say that there is no manual that comes with raising a child.

Today, I beg to differ.
There is a manual to help us with raising children. The problem is that we don’t like to read it and/or apply it.

That manual is the Bible.

So much can be avoided if we paid attention to it. So much could be avoided if we helped our children to read and apply it to their daily lives – to see it as being relevant now, and not as a history book.

But as long as a parent or child refuses to pay attention to the instruction manual that helps us to live prosperous lives, then the space between being childlike and growing to maturity is like a gulf or chasm.

Hebrews 6:1 English Standard Version

6 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

Raising a child is not for the faint of heart.

It’s more than about putting clothes on the back of a child, putting physical food on the table, and covering their head with a roof.

Heck, there are some children who can do that for themselves and because of how they were positioned, they have become the family business (child stars and prodigies).

Maturity is not about making money and paying bills.

Anyone can do that.

Maturity is a state of mind. (Maturity is not a matter of age, but instead, of how you choose to respond and react to various life situations. It is essentially a level of mental development or wisdom that has a bearing on all areas of an individual’s life, right from their conduct to their relationship with others.)

God said that “Obedience is learned through the things suffered” (Hebrews 5:8 NKJV)

Many times we warn people because we do not want to see them suffer. We do not want to see them go through pain. No parent wants this for their child.

But when you parent a prodigal, you need to cling to God with every breath you have because your prodigal is going to go through some things simply because they are hard of hearing and there is nothing that you can do to prevent it.

You will simply have to trust God.

Trust God’s promises such as what is found in Isaiah 54:13 where God says that your children will be persons taught by HIM and great will be their peace. Trust that the outcome is in God’s hands.

Trust God who says that it is not His desire that anyone loses their life but that we all attain to repentance in 2 Peter 3:9

Trust God with the pain of your own heart as you watch your child go through (unnecessarily) all because they would not listen. Know that God understands and knows your pain as your heart breaks for your child.

Remember that God watched His only begotten suffer too. As a matter of fact, let’s read Hebrews 5:7-10

Hebrews 5:7-10
New International Version
7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Jesus was the Son of God and yet He had to learn obedience too and the way He learned was through what He suffered and it perfected him.

But imagine the pain that God felt as HE patiently let His Son learn.

A child learns to walk through falling. Discipline teaches.

Have you ever heard a parent discipline a child and say to the child “this hurts me more than it hurts you”

Children do not understand that statement at the onset. But in the face of maturity, they understand what they didn’t in the mindset of a child.

Birthing children is painful. But the child is so precious and worth it.

Raising children brings much joy. When the child becomes a prodigal on their journey towards maturity that is just as painful if not worse than the labor pains itself.

But, parent, know that you will get through it with many tears and outcries, and prayers for your prodigal, and the child will come through it too, maybe a little worn for the trials that had to be suffered for them to learn, but if you are a praying parent, the child will come through.

I encourage all parents of prodigals to meditate upon Exodus 17:8-15 and remember Joshua won his battles in the valley because Moses kept his hands lifted in the mountain top.

Trust God.
Trust God.
Trust God. with your prodigals.

I like how the Apostle Paul wrote it about Onesimus in his letter to Philemon.

” Perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer a slave but more than a slave – a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. – Philemon 1: 15-16

Parenting will definitely teach you how to pray if you don’t know how.

If you are a parent, you might as well start now by praying for your children. Get yourself a knee pad because like JOB it will be continuous for you. JOB was said to rise early in the morning to offer up burnt sacrifices for his children. (Job 1: 5) and he did this regularly.

Just know that God hears you. God’s word is a two edged sword. Even as your prodigal learns, you learn also.

You learn the power of intercession. You learn to trust and lean on God. You learn what it means to parent from the greatest parent of all

Our Heavenly Father

Keep praying and don’t give up and you will see the results of your tenacity in standing in the gap.

Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: – Hebrews 10:35-36

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews10:35-36&version=NKJV