So many of the blessings in this journey with a prodigal are hard. This particular one is right there in the beatitudes, the blessings Jesus included in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:11-12 NKJV). Luke wrote this beatitude this way: “‘Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven’” (Luke 6:22-23).

Jesus said we would be hated, excluded, reviled, cast out, persecuted, and have evil spoken about us because of Him. It’s hard when someone you casually know excludes you or lies about you or treats you horribly, but when it is someone you love with all your heart, your heart can feel like it will burst, even if the reason is because of your relationship with God. It seems impossible to rejoice.

In Luke 12:52-53, Jesus warns us again that this could happen and would within families: “‘For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’” (Luke 12:52-53). He knew being in relationship with Him could, and would in some cases, cause division in families.

But how can we rejoice like Jesus told us to do? Where is the reason to rejoice? How can we feel the blessing Jesus promised when some do not even know where their prodigals are and when the pain of rejection is so intense?

Jesus explains how and why. We change our focus from the pain to Him and the particular blessing of this pain: “For indeed your reward is great in heaven.” We don’t accept the present situation as the final situation, because God has made us some promises, and we pray against it every day. We don’t rejoice because of the isolation and the pain, but we rejoice because of the outcome. We rejoice because “the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to who be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:18 KJV), and He has plans to do the same for them.

Although it may be tempting, we do not compromise our faith or the truth from the Word of God to be able maintain relationship with our backslidden loved ones. We love them and show them love while yearning for relationship, but compromise is not the answer. Romans tells us, “Bless those who persecute you” (12:14).

Whether we are in contact and good relationship with our prodigals, we have been canceled, or somewhere in between, we all long for that fellowship with our prodigals that is only possible between believers. So, we pray and wait for the day when we can see the promises God has given us fulfilled before our very eyes, and we find reasons to rejoice, because they are very good reasons. And, when the pain of separation is so intense, we turn our focus to our relationship with God and rejoice, and we turn our focus to our heavenly eternal reward and rejoice. That is where the promised blessing comes.