Why did the Prodigal son wait until he was eating pig slop to go back home? Maybe it was pride, maybe stupidity, maybe something else; but regardless our reasons, we can only imagine what was going through his mind before he came to the realization of his situation.
We can read in Luke 15:17-20 and learn something about his situation that perhaps we can all relate to at one time or another. “When he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger…'”
Maybe coming to your senses would be equivalent to waking up from a hard fall that you can’t remember, or waking up in a fog after being under anesthetics. No matter what picture it paints in your mind, Jesus is describing a man who had been blind to his condition and/or the consequences of his decisions.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, “If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Satan, the god of this world, is who presents situations to us that make it easier not to see God’s will for our life.
But Hebrews 5:14 describes those who aren’t blinded by Satan; they are the mature, “…who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” Solomon said in Proverbs 22:3, “The prudent (wise) sees danger (evil) and hides himself, but the simple (the blind) go on and suffer for it.”
The Prodigal Son accepted that coming to the father may require a totally submissive position, one filled with humility. He not only accepted it, but made every effort to get there. The story of Joseph found in Genesis 37-45, and his journey from Canaan Land to Egypt. He endured a lot of things that caused him to feel like he was living in pig slop. Even though God was leading him there in order to save many people, Joseph didn’t figure that out until later.
As you consider his journey, it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch to see how his pride in who he was, or what God was going to do for him, caused him to act in such a way that resulted in being beaten up and rejected by his brothers, sold into slavery, and sent to prison.
The point I hope you take from this is how much humility may have changed his situation in life. As was stated, God had a plan for him, but doesn’t He have a plan for you and me? God is working in our lives, and one of the best things we can start putting into practice is that quality of humility. Joseph learned it; so can you.
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