“If you ever find yourself in the wrong story, leave.” -Mo Willems

Luke 15:11-32

How many times have you looked up and found yourself in a place and you have absolutely no idea how you got there? How many times have you taken a series of missteps that have led to trouble and with every step, you told yourself that you were going in the wrong direction? It seems that even though we can watch our mistakes as though we are observing them objectively, that doesn’t mean that we are able to stop ourselves. It’s like watching a train wreck: we feel helpless to stop it, yet we cannot look away.

The prodigal son found himself in the wrong story. The son of wealth, he decided he wanted his portion to go and live as he pleased. Soon after, he found himself in a lot of trouble because he had not taken care with what he had. He found himself destitute and eating alongside pigs. He found himself in the wrong story! With this realization, he came to himself and decided to deny his pride and return home to his father and asked to be one of his father’s servants. What follows next is the perfect picture of love and devotion: “And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion…” (Luke 15:20). The prodigal son made the decision to leave the story that he had put himself in and his father was waiting for him to come to this realization the entire time.

We have much more power over our lives than we think. In Luke 10:19, Jesus said, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” If we have power over the enemy, we have the power to make right decisions that won’t cause us harm later. Yes, problems and challenges will come; we’ve already discussed that, but Jesus also reminded us that He has overcome the world (John 16:33) and if He has overcome the world, then we have, too, because we are in Him.

I’ve allowed myself to get caught up in the wrong story a few times. Usually, it only takes me seconds to come to that realization while other times, it may take me days. Taking days to realize that I’m in the wrong story is much more problematic because being caught up in the wrong story wastes time. As the prodigal son was out living his life the way that he wanted to live it, he not only wasted his inheritance, but he also wasted a great deal of time. This was time that he could have been enjoying his family, learning from his father, experiencing the beauty of even the most mundane things in life. I suppose the time it takes to realize that you’re in the wrong story is not as important as the realization itself so that you can make the effort to leave. “Coming to ourselves” as the prodigal came to himself (Luke 15:17) is the first step. While it is sometimes the hardest, it’s also the most important.

Prayer for Release: Lord, being captive in the wrong story is not Your best for me. I plead Your Son’s blood over my life so that if I ever do make the mistake of being in the wrong story, it will not yield consequences from which I cannot recover. Thank you for Your saving grace that guides me at all times.