Day 18

My Grandfather owned a pig farm; it was hard work. It was good honest work, but hard. He made a living on that pig farm for his wife and five kids. They were not rich, but it was an honest living; nothing to be ashamed of.

When I think of the younger son, his ‘high on the hog’ living is now gone; all the money, the parties, the friends. He had wished his father dead. I’m sure he was totally humiliated and ashamed. I’ve come to understand that, in God’s providence, it’s not so much the circumstances, but how you handle them that matters.

There are two types of shame; unhealthy shame, which is a shame we don’t deserve to feel, and healthy shame, the shame that shows us that we are image bearers of our creator. This healthy shame is what the younger brother came to feel. One day, he saw himself in the distorted, dirty reflection of the feeding trough; he didn’t like what he saw. His identity as a child of the loving father was muddied in shame. Without this true identity, all living is squandered. When the younger son experienced healthy shame, it nudged toward the template of who he was created to be, but found himself failing miserably.

Don’t we all know this feeling? It is a shame that lets me know I’m falling short of the person God created me to be. I wasn’t created to live with pigs. I was created to have a seat of honor in the heavenly realms beside my older brother, Jesus. Praise God for his grace and acceptance when I decide to tuck my tail between my legs and head home. The younger son knew there was something better at home; even if that something meant he would be a slave in his father’s house. Sometimes our suffering is a call for home.



Sandy Welfare