And Jesus, looking upon him, loved him, and He said to him, You lack one thing; go and sell all you have and give it all to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and accompany Me . At that saying the man’s countenance fell and was gloomy, and he went away grieved and sorrowing, for he was holding great possessions. -Mark 10:21-22
Do you have someone you want to see walk with God, but they want nothing to do with Him? You’ve been believing forever, you want it to happen so bad, you’ve done everything you know to do and yet, they still want nothing to do with God.
This might offend you, but perhaps the best thing you can do is let them walk away. Jesus invited the young rich ruler to follow Him and be a disciple! The cost: he had to give up everything. He couldn’t do it. He walked away.
I find it interesting that Jesus didn’t stop him and say, “Do you know what you’re going to miss out on? I’m giving you a chance to change history!” Instead, He just let him walk away.
The same thing happened in the parable of the prodigal son. The father let his son have all the inheritance, leave, & go nuts. He didn’t stop him, even though he could of. He let him walk.
The son, through crazy circumstances, the son repents and comes back (on his own accord). The Father overwhelmed with joy, welcomes him home. He said, “We have to celebrate this happy day. For my son was dead, and has come back to life. He was lost, but now He is found.”
The son came back. What an awesome moment! I believe that if we’ll trust God with the people that walk away, that one day, they will come back. When they do, we’ll know that we had a part in it, because while we may have let them walk, that didn’t stop us from praying for them and trusting God to move in their lives.
If you’ve been struggling with someone you’ve been believing God for, keep trusting God to do a work in their life, encourage them when you can, love them unconditionally, and always remember this:
God cares more for the person who walked away then we ever could.
And when they do come back. Celebrate. Celebrate like you’ve never celebrated before. Because what was once dead, has no become alive. What was once lost, is now found. What an incredible thing.
Thoughts?
