Sometimes the ways of the Lord are strange to us, but they’re not past finding out. And His power and incredibly undeserved mercy is one of the amazing things about Him. King David said, “Whether shall I go from Your Spirit or whether shall I flee from Your presence?” (Psalm 139:7 & 8) But, you ask, what about the rebellious? What about those who’ve turned away from Him in heart and mind? Is there hope for them?

My personal experience is that there is hope for ones like that. Because that was how I was. But then the Lord reached down and “delivered me from the lowest hell.” (Pslam 86:13) There’s the story told of Napoleon who had sentenced a young deserter to be shot for deserting a second time. His mother pled for mercy for her son from the Emperor of France. “He doesn’t deserve mercy,” Napoleon told her. “Sir, if he deserved it, it wouldn’t be mercy,” the distraught mother said.

And what truth there is in that. Mercy is not something we deserve, it is unmerited grace and forgiveness from a greater power. In our lives we find it from God and from Jesus. And that’s almost certainly what so many of us hope for when we think of the lives of our loved ones, some of whom are so very far away from the path of life and truth that they perhaps once walked on. How can it be possible that they can ever come back to the love of God and the life of God some of them once had?

Many of us know of the story Jesus told of the “prodigal son”, the classic story of a “backslidden” son who finally “came to himself”, repented of his foolish ways and returned to his father. It’s all such a timeless story of contrition, “godly sorrow that works repentance to salvation.” (II Corinthians 7:10)

But how does that happen? How does someone “come to himself” (Luke 15:17), as Jesus described what happened to the prodigal son? One thing we know from elsewhere in Jesus’ words is what He said about how anyone comes to Him, “No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him.” (John 6:44) Jesus also said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” So there’s this abiding event that is going on in our lives today: God’s Spirit drawing men to the truth, to the light and reality of the salvation that is in Jesus.

And yet we know that many, in fact probably all of us at one time or the other, have resisted the drawing of the Holy Spirit, some much more than others. “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts,” (Psalm 95:7 & 8) King David said. But so many do harden their hearts and resist the loving appeal of the Spirit of God. And basically God gives us the majesty of choice and will not overrule our will. So how do any of us ever get rescued from our own evil hearts and darkened understanding? Like Paul once said, “Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24)

In thinking about these things today, I was reminded of an obscure story in the Old Testament that touches on this subject. One of King David’s sons had been banished by the king but David’s heart yearned to be restored to him. It’s a long story but the highlight of it all came when a wise woman in Israel was sent by David’s general, Joab, to appeal to the king about the matter. She said this to him in trying to find a way for David’s son to find grace in the eyes of his father. “For we must all die, and are as water spilt on the ground  … nevertheless the Lord devises ways that His banished be not expelled from Him.” (II Samuel 14:14)

That’s the essence of it all. God in His mighty, infinite love and mercy “devises ways that His banished [all of us] be not expelled from Him.” Don’t ever discount the mighty miracle working power of God. He is somehow able to reach into the heart of the most hardened prodigal son or daughter, to bring them to contrition and repentance, to grant in their hearts the miracle of remorse and the realization of their often mighty wrongdoings.

He devises ways that His banished be not expelled from Him. That verse brought hope again to my heart this morning as I thought about some dear loved ones who’ve continued for years to “walk in the council of the ungodly and sit in the seat of the scornful.” (Psalm 1:1) But “if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things.” (I John 3:20) Even when we were dead in sins, Christ died for us. And some are dead in their sins right now but still the Lord is working “behind the scenes” as the author and finisher of our faith to draw hardened prodigal sons and daughters back to Himself and the paths of life.

It was said of Jesus, “a bruised reed He shall not break and smoking flax He shall not quench.” (Matthew 12:20) Some folks hardly even seem to be that. But in the infinitely merciful eyes of God, He sees an ember still there and has hope for the lost and rebellious when they seem past hope to us. These thoughts comforted my heart this morning when the outlook has continued to be bleak for some folks I love. It all really has to just be the Lord. “With man it is impossible. But not with God. For with God, all things are possible.” (Matthew 10:27)