AHA: The God Moment That Changes Everything

It lets us off the hook because we’re not saying, “No;” we’re just saying, “Not

The experience of loss does not need to be the defining moment of our story. He went on to say that the defining moment can be our response to the loss. Ultimately our story doesn’t have to be a story about loss; it can be a story about how we respond to the loss.

we can never do enough. We can’t out-right our wrongs. Sure, we can make up for a few mistakes, but we can all look at our lives and admit that—in one way or another—we’ve done irreparable damage. There isn’t enough time to make things right, so we end up doing nothing. The time for action has come and gone. So with our head bowed and eyes low, we

The bottom line is that from a biblical perspective, morality is more important than prosperity. God cares less about what you’ve got and more about how you got it and what you do with it.

This is the problem with confidence in our own goodness. We begin to believe we’re going to earn something from the Father. But the Father’s house is not a house of merit; it is a house of mercy.

We expect God to be an angry father who demands justice, but through Jesus, He gives us love and grace when we don’t deserve it. Ultimately, the story in Luke 15 isn’t about two sons who disobey. It is about a Father who loves His children unconditionally.

Picture him saying, “Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and against you. I have no money, and by the way, some creditors are coming, and I owe twice what my inheritance was worth.” The longer we try to prolong the pleasure, the greater the pain will be.

Keeping it simple can be hard, but when you try to tie up every possible loose end, you end up frustrated and convinced you need to work harder. Sometimes we just need a simple plan of action—even if it’s imperfect.

Look again at how the father responded when he got to his son. Jesus said that the father “threw his arms around him and kissed him.” It’s not too late because the Father wants you just the way you are. We think, It’s too late now. I don’t have time to get cleaned up. I don’t have time to get my life together. But the father loved the son as he was