Prodigal: There is comfort in a rocking chair.

Me: Amen to that!

Isaiah 40:1

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. I read those words in my bible at work. Yes Lord, you call us toward your people.

These words were spoken from God’s prophet to His people Israel originally. He was repeating the commandment because the prophet wanted the people to understand what God was trying to show them. God wanted to be comfort to His people.

Have you seen someone’s heart who is hurting this week? If you left your house I know you have. The hurting heart has many looks. It appears as sadness, a cold stare, an aggressive word or the actions of rejection. Sometimes a person is vulnerable long enough to state out loud that they just need comfort. More often than not we have to wade thru the walls and deflections to determine what broke the heart in the first place.

This is what the world of counseling looks like. You may be physically making, improving or developing structures. I am finding hurting hearts. Some of you are dealing with the physical hearts. There are tests, blood work and appointments to make at an office or another physicians office. Or maybe your world is virtually. The computer you work on is always in front of you. It may have a graph or word document in front of you at all times. Who thinks about hearts when the world is so black and white in front of your eyes.

God uses us all. God has purpose in it all.

Today though as I begin to start sorting emotions, and pasts and spirits that are discouraged, my focus is on something else.

I need comfort for my heart. I need to cry out to the Lord. I need to know that the God of the impossible is there in this moment.

He shows up and let’s me know that I am more valuable than a sparrow. He lets me know that I do not have to do anything alone. There is not a step I took that I was alone. My steps have been with Him beside me.

Why God do I grow weary at times?

My child it is because you have ceased to look at me. You have forgotten the Love I have proclaimed over you from the minute you were in your mother’s womb. You have forgotten that my love is not conditioned on how well you perform. You have forgotten that I receive joy in just the unique person you are. You have forgotten how much my eyes are upon you.

I am sorry God…..

My child you are forgiven whenever you ask for it.

God you are amazing!

My child so are you!

God show others your love.

My child don’t you know that is what you are going to do today. People will know my love and they will see it in your spirit.

God I can’t do that alone.

My child, my spirit will show you the way.

God I’m ready.

My child so am I.

2 Corinthians 1:3

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

 

Prodigal:  I have been waiting a while.

Me:  Me too!  We have to continue to still wait.

Prodigal:  The Lord will be with us.

 

This is from the book Sitting by My Laughing Fire by Ruth Graham

 

She waited for the call

that never came; searched every mail

for a letter, or a note,

or card,

that bore his name;

and on her knees

at night

and on her feet

all day, she stormed Heaven’s Gate

in his behalf;

she plead for him

in Heaven’s high court.

“Be still and wait,”

the word He gave;

and so she knew

He would

do in, and for,

and with him,

that which she never could.  Doubts ignored,

she went about her chores

with joy;

knowing though spurned,

His word was true.

The prodigal had not returned

but God was God,

and there was work to do.”

 

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.  Hebrews 10:22

 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodgialpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

 

 

Me:  You sing like your foot got caught in a bear trap.

Prodigal:  I am making a joyful noise to the Lord.

Me:  Well then it is a good thing!

 

This is from the book Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders

 

Eyes that look are common; eyes that see are rare.  The Pharisees looked at Peter and saw only an unschooled fisherman–not worth a second look.  Jesus saw Peter as a prophet and preacher, saint and leader who helped turn the world upside down.

Vision includes optimism and hope.  The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity.  The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.  The pessimist tends to hold back people of vision from pushing ahead.  Caution has its role to play.  The cautious person helps the optimistic leader to be realistic.  We all live in a real world of limitation and inertia.  Cautious Christians draw valuable lessons from history and tradition, but are in danger of being chained to the past.  The person who sees the difficulties so clearly that he does not discern the possibilities cannot inspire a vision in others.

 

Look with different eyes today.  Look with the eyes of Jesus.

 

Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.  Jeremiah 33:6

 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodiglpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Me:  It is a day that starts out with the Lord, we are uncertain of what it will bring.

Prodigal:  How do you deal with that?

Me:  We know and trust in Christ the Savior.

This is from the book  In the Middle of the Mess:  Strength for this Beautiful Broken Life by Sheila Walsh

If we are still on this earth, then the work is not finished.  God has committed to work with us in that journey until Christ returns.  How I wish for a greater understanding of this in the body of Christ.  

Too often we judge, measure, condemn, and isolate.  The gospel of Jesus Christ invites us to sit together in our rags under the wide open sky of grace.  Does that mean it doesn’t matter how we live?  No.  What I mean is that condemnation and isolation are the tools of the enemy.  The Holy Spirit brings conviction, which draws us closer to Christ.  Condemnation pushes us back into the darkness.

Do not fall into the enemy’s lies of condemnation and isolation.  Look to the Lord and grace will be given.

I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.  So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

1 Corinthians 3:6-7

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Prodigal: It is a sunny day.

Me: Yes, stay inside and watch a video.

click here to watch video

Proverbs 3:6

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

 

Prodigal:  Me and Brady are so good at cooking!

Me:  I agree, but don’t let it turn to pride.

 

This is from the book The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis

 

If thou thinkest that thou knowest many things and understandest them very well; know also that there be far more things which thou knowest not.  Be not high-minded, but rather acknowledge thine own ignorance.  Why wilt thou prefer thyself before another, since there be found many more learned, and more skilful in the Law than thou art?  If thou wilt know or learn anything profitably, love to be unknown, and to be esteemed as naught.

The deepest and the most profitable reading is this, the true knowledge and contempt of ourselves.  It is great wisdom and high perfection to esteem nothing of ourselves, and to think always well and highly of others.  If thou shouldst see another openly sin, or commit some heinous offence, thou oughtest not to esteem the better of thyself; for thou knowest not how long thou shalt be able to remain in good estate.  All of us are frail, but thou oughtest to esteem none more frail than thyself.

 

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power:  for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Revelation 4:11

 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Me:  Looks like some kind of factory.

Prodigal:  I am not sure what is inside but, the art work on the outside is pretty!

Me:  Well I know of another kind of factory.

This is from the book A Praying Life by Paul Miller

Your heart can become a prayer factory because, like Jesus, you are completely dependent.  You needed God ten minutes ago, you need him now.  Instead of hunting for the perfect spiritual state to lift you above the chaos, pray in the chaos.  As your heart or your circumstances generate problems, keep generating prayer.  You will find that the chaos lessens.

Time with God in prayer is time well spent and, it can be done anywhere at anytime.  You can even have your eyes open during prayer!

Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the Lord is his name.

Jeremiah 33:2

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Me:  Howdy!

Prodigal:  I just finished listening to some hymns.

Me:  Which one?

Prodigal:  I need thee every hour.

Me:  Let me share some background.

This is from the book  Great Women of the Christian Faith by Edith Deen

Annie S. Hawks, who wrote “I Need Thee Every Hour” In 1872.  She was born in upstate New York, and resided for many years in Brooklyn, but the facts of her life are obscure.

It is easy to bring pride in the picture and want to be known.  You want to be known as helping other Christians.   Today, God wants to bring you another message.  This is about serving and people don’t really know.  It is about doing without thousands understanding what you are doing.  We serve and God gets the credit.  That is our focus.

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:  for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:  and he will show you things to come.

John 16:13

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Me:  You look at peace.

Prodigal:  I am right now.

Me:  Peace is something that is worth searching for.

This is from the book  Reclaiming Your Heart:  A Journey Back to Laughing, Loving, and Living  by Denise Hildreth Jones

Another important–and healing–aspect of living with an alive heart comes as a direct result of trusting our big, capable God with our past hurts and failures.  Instead of holding our grudges or deep wounds close or, even worse, holding them over someone else’s head, we learn to let them go and make peace with both our past and present.  This almost always involves forgiving others and ourselves, seeking forgiveness from those we’ve hurt, and then deliberately choosing to let go of our resentments.  Not necessarily “forgive and forget,”  but leaving those hurts and failures in God’s hands and refusing to let them control us.  Again, this will be a process, not a one-time choice.  But it is amazing how making  peace with the past reduces our own controlling tendencies and also protects us from the pain of others’ control tactics.  It’s hard to lay a guilt trip, for instance, on a person who has already dealt with his or her guilt.

See, friend, peace is not the absence of opposition, as a controlling heart would have us believe.  Real peace is the confident, non frantic trust that David talked about in Psalm 131:2–“Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.”

It’s the peace of a person with a reclaimed heart who truly understands how big and dependable God is.

We will never be able to control what people think about us.  We will never be able to control other people’s actions toward us.  We will never be able to control how life will turn out for us.

Sure, we may manipulate these things for a season, but the effect won’t be lasting.  So why wear ourselves out trying?  Why not realize that our God is big enough to take care of everything that concerns us.  Why not rest ourselves on his breast and enjoy what his love and protection afford us—sleep, peaceful sleep, with God, and God only, in control.

Psalm 119:165

Those who love your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Me: Thank you for watching!

Prodigal: Your welcome!

click here for another video

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not to your own understanding

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org