Alone

Travelling to the "distant country" not only leaves us broke. It leaves us alone. When the money dries up, so do our "friends." Suddenly people who were attracted to us no longer see an appeal. Before we were the life of the party and everyone loved us. Now, no one will return our calls. Money and power create a "bubble" of fun and attraction. When the bubble bursts, though, no one wants to have anything to do with us...except to enslave us.

After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. (Luke 15:14-16 NIV)

The only person who would return his calls was a farmer. The farmer didn't want to be around the son because he was fun to be around. He wasn't interested in hanging out at the club that night. He wasn't attracted to the son's natural charisma. No, the farmer only wanted him to do the dirty, unpleasant part of his job: feeding the pigs. That's what he hired the son to do. "Hired" is a pretty strong word, too, because the son was still hungry enough that the pig's food looked appetizing to him. Maybe he wasn't getting a fair wage. Maybe he was receiving fair compensation, but he squandered it just like he did the inheritance. In either case, he was far away from home, broke, and very much alone.

How about you? Have you experienced going to the "distant country" far away from the Father? Did you watch as your relationships, one by one, all dried up? Did you feel what it was like to become completely unwanted and alone?