Luke 15:13 “And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.”
One of the greatest hinderances to people living in the will of God fully is their spiritual fomo, or spiritual fear of missing out. They have this fear that by giving God all their heart they will miss out on something exciting. Our Bible passage in Luke 15 is a familiar one of what is called the Prodigal Son. He was a young man that got OUT of the will of God. What if he would have stayed IN the will of God for his life? What would he have missed out on? He would have missed out on: Causing Unnecessary Division in His Home (15:12) From the moment he took his inheritance and left home he divided his family and the problems even persisted even when he returned. We miss out on causing ourselves lots of problems when we stay in the will of God.
Separation from the Father’s Fellowship (15:13) What we miss out on the most when we get out of the will of God is the powerful presence of the Father. Greater than anything God provides to us, His presence is the most precious thing in all of life. When we stay in the will of God we miss out on being separated from the fellowship, protection and provision of the Heavenly Father. Wasting His One Precious Life (15:13-14) God tells us that he wasted all his substance. He wasted a lot more than his money and possessions. He wasted his good name, his clean testimony, his pure morality, his very life. Everything his family worked hard to provide for him he wasted. Even when (or if) we get right with God we can never take back or make back the time we wasted in sin. When we stay in the will of God we miss out on wasting our one life.
The Pain of Poor Choices (15:14-16) The clock always runs out on the season of sin. Consequences eventually set in. The money ran out and the fake friends ran off and he was left broke, homeless, and hungry. He ended up covered in the slop of the pig pen and feeding on the hog food. When we stay in the will of God we miss out on the pain and problems of our poor choices.
Walking the Shameful Road of Repentance (15:17-21) Thank God he came to himself! That is why God bakes in the consequences of life, to get our attention when nothing else will. He gets back on the right track in life but has to walk naked and dirty all the way back home. How painful and shameful. When we stay in the will of God, we miss out on having to walk this painful path.
When we stay in the will of God we miss out on a lot of BAD things and none of the GOOD things.
Robert Pophal
Rose Park Baptist Church | Holland, MI
