As I was looking over several prayer requests that had come in, one in particular caught my attention, because of something stated in the request. The request was that someone would intervene in a situation, “until God speaks”. They were wanting help for a young man whom God has been trying to speak to for a long while. The person requesting prayer had intervened time and time again, trying to help him, but to no avail. I began praying that we would have eyes to see and ears to hear what God has been, is, and will be saying, for He is always speaking. I’m thinking of the prodigal son who went so far down into the pit that he was yearning to just eat the husks that the pigs got to dine on. We don’t often think of this, but if that father had known how bad off his son was doing, don’t you think that he would have run to pick him up and take him home ? But, it wasn’t until the son “came to himself ” and recognized that he had put himself in that position, and when he got desperate enough to be willing to go back home in humility asking to be a servant, that his heart was finally in the right position to change and be forever transformed. Otherwise it would have been too soon, and his heart wouldn’t have been ready. Often times we try to help fix problems that we see, but it’s not what God has asked of us, His timing, or the way He wants to do it. We need spiritual surgery on our own eyes and ears, which will enable us to view things from our heavenly Fathers perspective. Love often looks tough, but it’s the real kind. Not the kind that caves in so we can feel better, but the kind that will help someone face themselves, and their desperate need for healing and deliverance. We’re not their Savior, so if what we’re doing doesn’t point them to the One who is, we need to check our motivation. We should want their dependence to be on Him, not us. Even when people say they are sorry for doing something wrong, there’s a process that they need to go through to really learn all that God wants to teach them from what they’ve experienced. If we’re all about shallow fixes for deep problems, only the surface will be taken care of. Praying for the light of God to shine and a desperate heart that’s willing to be exposed to it.