There are times our genuine care and compassion can hinder instead of help.
That is often the case when we so desperately want to see a prodigal turn from the error of their way, and in our desire to help, we intervene too soon.
In the story of The Prodigal Son in Luke 15, the father does not pursue his son but waits until he changes direction (repents), and starts of his own accord to journey home.
If the father would have tried to intervene and bring him back even one day early, the boy would not have truly reached rock bottom where he was forced by consequences to “come to his senses.”
Repentance is first of all a work of God in the human heart. As long as the scheming and lying and deceiving continues, the best thing one can do is pray for God’s Spirit to bring them to their senses, and to wait patiently until that day comes.
The true sign of genuine repentance will show up in honesty to themselves, God, and those they have wronged. Until that time it is important to trust that God’s love will do what our love cannot.
