Parenting by Design Daily DevotionalSample

FAMINES In the famous story of the prodigal son, it took a series of events before the rebellious boy "came to his senses" and decided to return to his family in repentance. He ran out of money, was deserted by all his so-called friends, and experienced a famine. He found himself working in a pigpen, hungering for the miserable seedpods the pigs were eating. We find ourselves nodding that this is just what that boy needed to return to the faith of his father. It's a little more difficult with our own kids, however. How often do we ask God to grant our kids more faith, but in a way that is comfortable and easy? We long for a good-looking, personable friend to invite them to a Bible study, when what they may really need is a "famine" that shows them that God is their best and truest friend. If we really trust God, we have to be prepared for Him to execute His plan in the way that suits His purposes, even if it requires a "famine." Sometimes it takes difficult trials to drive wandering kids back to God.