Karilee Hayden •
Therefore if any [person] is in Christ [he/she] is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become NEW. 2 Corinthians 5:17
We pray for our wayward kids—talk earnestly with them, cry for them, plead with them. Two years pass, and still they continue to rebel—then three years. These dearly beloved ones remain immersed in the world’s ways—some ensnared deeply by drugs, alcohol, sex. Five years go by and as parents, we begin to emotionally pull away. It hurts too much to keep caring—the pain is heartrending, exhausting. Ten years pass. Hearts build walls of estrangement. After all these years, if our children haven’t come back yet, most likely they have ruined their lives for good. We can’t bear to watch. It’s easier to walk away. Fifteen years go by. By now it’s far too late. They will never return. All hope is gone.
Is it?
Our daughter, Wendi, rebelled for twenty years before she listened to God, who always beckoned with outstretched arms. “Come home, my child, I still love you.” He sought her and brought her back . . . and restored her to wholeness.
As long as there is life and breath it is never too late. So then—when a prodigal comes back to the Savior, what then?
“I came back to the Lord,” one former prodigal said, “but I never felt accepted by my church. They say they’ve forgiven me, but it doesn’t feel like it.”
God forgives and forgets (Hebrews 8:12). And we must forgive, love, and encourage these broken beings back to restoration and fullness in Christ.
One young man thought he was beyond hope. “I’ve made so many mistakes, my life is ruined. How can God make anything out of my life?” He thought he was damaged goods.
We need only to look at King David, a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). David stole another man’s wife, impregnated her, and then had the man killed. Yet, David repented (Psalm 51) and God restored him, (not without consequences), and greatly used him.
“I’m nothing but a worthless piece of trash,” a young girl who had been repeatedly abused by her father sobbed. “At least that’s what I’ve been told all my life.”
GOOD NEWS! All who come to Christ in true repentance—every returned prodigal—can claim a future of great promise: No condemnation remains (Romans 8:1). In God’s family there is no such thing as a worthless child. Every child of God is of great value—each soul, a precious jewel (Malachi 3:17). God’s children’s lives all have meaning and purpose.
With that glorious truth in mind, I have written a poem—directed to those who feel they are beyond hope, and to the families who still wait. READ ON:
DAMAGED GOODS
There ain’t no damaged goods in the family of Jesus,
There ain’t no throwaway kids, no unwanted births.
No useless souls, no patched up holes,
No tattered seams or impossible dreams;
There ain’t such a thing as a child who has no worth.
My teachers done told me I’d amount to nothin’,
And people said I never shoulda been born;
I could do no right within their sight,
I was standin’ knee-deep in the garbage heap,
So I took off running to find my way alone.
In the eyes of the world I was just another loser;
Everywhere I turned I was spurned and ridiculed.
So the world confirmed what I’d already learned,
I was no good now—and I’d never know how
To matter in a sophisticated world.
I thought I was damaged goods and had no future;
One more throwaway kid no one wanted or cared about.
Just a useless soul with patched up holes
And tattered seams and impossible dreams;
A no-nothin’ bag of trash to be tossed out.
Then I remembered Someone who truly loved me;
Could He give me peace of mind, remove the pain?
So I came to Him, confessed my sin,
Placed my selfish plans in His good hands,
And my Father showed me I could hope again.
No, I ain’t some damaged goods—I’m in God’s family,
Not a throwaway kid, not broken—I am whole;
I know God cares and hears my prayers,
Never leaves me alone as He guides me home,
I’m a much-loved child of God with a rescued soul.
For there ain’t no damaged goods in the family of Jesus,
There ain’t no throwaway kids and unwanted births.
No useless souls, no patched up holes,
No tattered seams or impossible dreams;
There ain’t such a thing as a child who has no worth.
Damaged Goods © 2014 – Karilee Hayden