The Enemy Waits and We Wait, episode 19 (rebroadcast)

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Do you love a prodigal? Do you feel like you are lost in a scary and endless wilderness?

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Welcome to the When You Love a Prodigal podcast. I am Judy Douglass and I spent more than 15

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years in that wilderness. I believe together we will discover help and hope for your journey.

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We are continuing with our four sessions on time. Time is such a big deal when you love

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a prodigal. One of the hardest parts of the wilderness journey with a loved one is the

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roller coaster, the ups and downs, the unexpected turns, the dashed hope. I know, I lived it.

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As I recounted last week, my loved one was making great progress, better choices, greater

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stability, hope for a good future. Then hard things happened, pain seared, despair overcame,

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bad choices ensued, old patterns returned. I felt like we had reverted to 10 years ago.

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Why was I surprised? We have an enemy and that enemy is after those we love. Peter tells

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us be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion

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looking for someone to devour, someone like your prodigal. And John adds, the thief comes

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only to steal and kill and destroy. So he's not just trying to distract your left one.

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He's actually coming after them to steal them away, even to kill and destroy them. And our

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enemy is wily and smart. He studies your prodigal and my prodigal to know the right temptation,

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the stumbling block most likely to succeed and the best time to attack. Again, why should

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we be surprised? He did it to Jesus. We read about it in Luke 4. When the enemy followed

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Jesus into the wilderness, he was intent on destruction, but he was clever. He waited

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until he thought Jesus would be weak from hunger and thirst. He used the Father's own

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words quoting scripture repeatedly. He offered Jesus shortcuts, an easier way to get what

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was already his, to be in power, to have authority, to have immortality. Jesus, of course, was

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not deceived. He saw through the devil's schemes and he used scripture to rebuke the

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devil, to resist him, to say, no, not going there. When the devil had finished all this

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tempting, he left until an opportune time. Satan is such an opportunist. He is ever vigilant

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to recapture our loved ones, to regain the advantage, to remind them of the pleasures

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of sin, to woo them back into places they have left. He watches for an opportune time.

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We have some clear instructions from scripture. Submit yourself then to God, resist the devil,

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and he will flee from you. We can pray that our prodigals will remember the teaching they

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have received and resist the devil themselves, but often they will not be in a place in their

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lives to do that. So we, you and I, must stand in the gap. That means all the time, days,

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years. I did that especially for three nights after our son received Christ. I spent three

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nights in a battle, praying all night against what the devil was trying to do in our son's

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life. And I've been praying ever since. Even today, I would pray, Lord, protect him from

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the ways that the evil one comes after him. If you love a prodigal, you know you must

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pray. We must pray on their behalf. We ask God to be their strong fortress, to protect

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them, to strengthen them, to point them to his way of escape from temptation. We must

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take the offensive against the evil one according to scriptural patterns. We will talk more

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about that in spiritual warfare in some future episodes. We must personally make sure we

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are resisting the devil and his temptations directed at us as well. He is persistent.

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We must walk with Christ in humility, in holiness, and in the power of the Spirit. What we ask

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God to do on behalf of our prodigals, we must ask him to do for us. Finally, Paul tells

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us in Ephesians 6, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor

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of God so you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. The battle makes me

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weary. I don't like conflict. I'm weary from the pain that surprises the expense,

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the disappointment, the late night calls, the fear. I'm weary in the waiting. But the

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devil waits and so must we. Sometimes it is challenging to follow through with this exhortation

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from Galatians. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will

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reap a harvest if we do not give up. Doing good, are we? Surely the loving, the disciplining,

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the grace-giving, the exhorting, the praying are good. Yet sometimes the good changes,

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the hoped for, prayed for, begged for changes never seem to come. But wait, is there good

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in the waiting? God seems to say so. Let these many words on waiting sink in. A lot of these

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are from Psalms. Psalm 38, Lord, I wait for you. You will answer, Lord my God. Paul in

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Romans says, but if we wait for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Yeah,

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it's a verse to claim, patiently. Another Psalm 27, wait for the Lord, be strong and

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take heart and wait for the Lord. Love this one in Psalms 5, in the morning, Lord, you

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hear my voice. In the morning, I lay my requests before you and I wait expectantly. Sometimes

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as we wait expectantly, we get disappointed, but God is saying, look at who you're asking.

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We can wait expectantly. James tells us, be patient then brothers and sisters until the

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Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently

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waiting for the autumn and spring rains, patiently waiting. And another Psalm 40, I waited patiently

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for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry. Do you believe that? Do you know that

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that's true? When you cry out, when you ask, when you're waiting, he turns to you. He hears

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your cry. He's not ignoring you. Since ancient times, no one has heard, no ear has perceived,

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no eye has seen any God besides the hours who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

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Do you love that? Our God will act on behalf of us as we wait for him to do something wonderful

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and transforming in the life of our prodigal. Habakkuk tells us, for the revelation awaits

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an appointed time. It speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait

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for it. It will certainly come and will not delay. Remember, we live in this time and God lives in eternity.

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And so we can't really understand, but over and over he's saying to us, wait, be patient.

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You will see what I will do. Think of those people throughout scripture who waited. Abraham

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waited for a child. Joseph to get out of prison. Moses for Pharaoh to let his people go. The

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children of Israel in the desert to reach the promised land. Simeon and Anna the prophetess

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to see the child, to see Jesus. The disciples for the Holy Spirit to come and fill them.

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Think of those in scripture who waited for rain, for a word from God, and all who were

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waiting for the Messiah. And God waits too. He has waited through all the prodigalness

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of his children. He waited for just the right time to send his son in the incarnation and

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now waits for the right time to send him again. He waits for each of us, as well as each of

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our loved ones, to surrender, to accept, to return, to trust. So we wait. Isaiah says,

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yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you. Therefore he will rise up to show you compassion,

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for the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him.

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A couple of questions. In what ways have you seen the enemy come after your prodigal? What

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might help you to wait more patiently? God bless you.

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Thank you for joining me today on the When You Love a Prodigal podcast. If you enjoyed

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today's episode, please subscribe, rate, and review the show on Apple podcasts or wherever

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you listen. Your review helps the show reach more people with the hope and encouragement

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of Jesus. Don't forget, take a look at the show notes. And for more helpful information,

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resources, and books, check out judydouglass.com. That's Douglass with two S's. You can find

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me on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram at JudyDouglass417. Until next week.