Rhema Ehiemere - The Love That Waits

In this message, The Love That Waits, we dive into Jesus' parable of the prodigal son—a powerful illustration of God’s relentless love and grace. The story isn’t just about a wayward son; it’s about a Father who waits, a love that never gives up, and a grace that sees beyond our mistakes.

When we see through the lens of grace, we realize that God’s love is patient, His mercy is unwavering, and our mistakes don’t define us—our identity as His sons and daughters does. No matter how far you’ve gone, God is still waiting with open arms.

Grace is the lens of love through which God sees us. Your mistakes don’t change your position as God’s child. Religion says, «I messed up, my Father will kill me.» Relationship says, «I messed up, I need to run to my Father.» God’s love is more eager to welcome you back than the enemy is to keep you lost!

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On your way to your seat, say to your neighbor, «The love of God waits for you. The love of God waits for you.» You may be seated. Amen, amen. You know, most people define the grace of God as when God gives us something we don’t deserve, right? I love that definition because when you look all around us, you see the trickles, and you see the benefits, and you see the grace of God all around our lives. Think about it. Do you know that some people actually made plans for today, but they couldn’t see today because they passed on last night? And here you are today. You probably have not set your watch because of the time change, but you still woke up because it was not the alarm clock that woke you; it was the grace and the goodness of God that woke you. Some of you can cast your mind back in retrospect and think about all the times God protected you and kept you. Think about it: you didn’t get that job because you had the best resume; in fact, you didn’t even have a resume, and you still got the job. That is a testament to the goodness, mercies, and grace of God. Look at your job; look at everything around you. It is proof, a testament to the grace and goodness of God. You’re still married; you still have a relationship despite all the ups and downs. You never thought you would make it, but here you are, celebrating 10 years, 30 years, and even 40 years because of the goodness and grace of God all around your life. We see the trickles and the benefits of the goodness and grace of God, and that’s why I love this. As I began to study the grace of God, I came to a point and realized that grace is not just something God showers us with; grace is a perspective. Grace is a lens, and grace is the lens of love through which God sees us. Grace is the lens through which God views us, and when He looks at us, He doesn’t see a mistake; He sees a miracle. When God looks at us, He doesn’t see the worst of us; He sees the best of us. When God looks at us, He doesn’t see what we did; He sees what Jesus did on the cross; He sees us through His blood. When God looks at us, He doesn’t see the damage; He sees His image. That is the goodness and grace of God, and that is what we’re talking about today. Because grace is a lens, I studied scripture, and in my journey, it dawned on me that Jesus healed more blind people than any other condition in scripture. Think about it: Jesus healed more blind people than any condition in the Bible, which means there’s something about vision. In fact, the Bible says where there is no vision, the people perish. I have my own version, the Rama International Version. I always like to say that whenever your perspective is defective, you cannot be effective. I have an illustration here. I gave them a picture to put up. A couple of years ago, I bought a VR headset for my son. Now, that’s not my son, but just an illustration, right? I bought a VR headset, and my son used to play video games. That day, he was backing me, and I saw him with all his hand movements, and I was looking and thinking, «What is wrong?» Then he turned around, and I saw him with the VR headset. It dawned on me that people can judge you based on your actions if they don’t see what you’re seeing because your vision controls your actions. If you don’t see what I see, you might not be able to understand why I’m doing what I’m doing. The problem we face today is that we keep hanging around people who only see our actions and judge us based on our actions, but don’t have our vision in mind. This is the VR lens of grace, and this is where I want us to build the premise of this text because God sees us through a VR lens of love. God sees us through the VR lens of grace, and when He looks at you, He doesn’t see what you see; He sees His blood, and He calls you blessed, appointed, and favored. You look at me and say, «Why would God look at me?» He’s not looking at you; He’s looking at what Jesus did on the cross. If you believe it, say amen. Amen. This is so important because as I started this text about the prodigal son, I came to an understanding that when Jesus told this parable—one of three parables—it was because the Jews, the Pharisees, and the scribes were saying, «Why would Jesus eat with sinners?» But they didn’t understand; in Luke 19:10, the Word of God says that the Son of Man, meaning Jesus, came to seek and save that which was lost. So here Jesus was a physician, and He was treating the sick; that was His assignment. But when people don’t understand your assignment, they misjudge you. So, it’s possible to actually be in your assignment and not be in alignment.