Luke 15:17 AMP
“But when he [finally] came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough food, while I am dying here of hunger!”
It is totally amazing how the LORD is mighty to save and restore the most wayward of persons to a new glorious start. Besides using His servants to be His voice to His people, the LORD is seen, in the Scriptures, stepping in to do a restorative work in His people, i.e., without the direct aid of men. For instance, following the miraculous restoration of King Nebuchadnezzar from being “driven from men” and eating “grass like oxen” (Dan 4:33 NKJV) for about seven years, he revealed what actually happened to him: “…at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding RETURNED to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever” (Dan 4:34 NKJV). Hallelujah!
Clearly, for a man’s understanding to return to him and he becomes sane, without another man’s help, is unquestionably the work of God’s grace and goodness. The LORD did even more for him! Nebuchadnezzar testified and said, “At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out [again], and I was restored to my throne and became even GREATER than before” (Dan 4:36 NIV). Hallelujah! Indeed, the restorative power of God’s grace does far more good than we can imagine; it always surpasses the harm of our former wayward state.
In the New Testament, the prodigal son had a similar blessed experience (Luk 15). One fateful day, when he was stuck with the consequences of his decisions, “he [finally] came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough food, while I am dying here of hunger!”, as in our text. Again, for a lost man, lost in sin and rebellion, to finally come “to his senses”, without the direct instrumentality of men, is proof that God graciously stepped in Himself to restore. Such testimonies give us hope that when it all seems done with our wayward loved ones, it is not yet over with the LORD! Or, could you be feeling stuck or ‘lost’ from your previously thriving relationship with your heavenly Father? There is much hope for restoration; the LORD does not despise a broken and contrite heart (Psa 51:17).
Pst. Emmanuel