At some point in your life, you have experienced the anxiety of trying to find something misplaced. It may be something small like a book or a favorite shirt. This past week I found a number of lost things. When I attacked Mt. [Clean] Laundry one afternoon, I was relieved to finally find the mate to a sock my adult son had lost track of while visiting.
While decluttering a desk, I found a gift certificate I was certain had accidentally gone out in the trash. And then when I looked through a drawer of old CDs, I stumbled across some early films my son and a friend had made—definitely priceless and irreplaceable.
And finally, while helping my son pack for camp, I unzipped a suitcase pocket to unexpectedly find a t-shirt that we had not been able to find for several months. It had been intended as a gift and was a very rare design that was no longer available.
Sometimes the smallest things can cause the most distress: a car key (when you are already running late), or a wallet that you can’t recall setting down. At those times we are on high alert until it is found or replaced.
Several years ago, we misplaced a car key and having looked high and low, could not find it anywhere. This was when electronic fobs had just come into use and we ended up spending $100 to replace it (now those things are $300 or more!). We didn’t have much choice and ponied up the money. It wasn’t until several months later that the mystery was solved. One of our kids happened to look in a basket that had silk flowers in it and there was the key. Our 4 year old admitted to having put it in there to hide it. I cannot recall whether he did it to be funny or as an act of rebellion, but that stands out as a costly loss.
But it wasn’t our most expensive one. Prior to that event, when we were putting our house up for sale, we needed to find the abstract. Despite having a perfectly adequate filing cabinet, that document had not been filed. We searched everywhere we could think of and ended up having to pay for another one (to the tune of $350–gulp).
Those losses pale in comparison to the time we almost lost a child. Like most parents, we can relate times we lost track of a child in a store, or (I am embarrassed to admit) that we have forgotten a child at home. By far the scariest occurrence was when we flew as a family of 7 for the first time for a family reunion. We had 5 kids to keep track of between 9 months and 10 years and somehow our 2 year old wandered off. The really humbling fact is that we hadn’t even realized he was gone until we saw a stranger leading him back to us (he told us he went to find a bathroom!). We are all too aware of how fortunate we were that he was safely returned to us (and you can bet we kept a closer eye on our kids in the future)!
Sometimes losses are less tangible: lost time, lost opportunities, or lost relationships (to misunderstandings or death). You may have experienced lost health. If you are lucky, you will regain health with some modifications. A health scare can often be the impetus to get serious about eating healthier or increasing activity. Health scares are like warning lights. Like a warning on your car dashboard.
It seems there are two kinds of people: ones who like to keep their gas tank half full—never getting too close to empty, and those who live dangerously, seeing how close they come to empty before filling. This was the sight that greeted me one morning as I was headed to an appointment:
I am one who shudders at this sight and I try to avoid such instances whenever possible. This may be a reaction to one unfortunate lapse when I lost track of where the gauge was and ran out of gas on a deserted gravel road one hot summer day with 3 little children in the car. This was before cell phones were available so we had to slowly trudge to the closest house to use their phone and arrange for someone to bring us gas. That kind stranger not only let us hang out there waiting for a couple of hours, but also refreshed us with cold water. That was an unpleasant way to learn a lesson.
And even though I tried to avoid let letting my car tank get empty, I often ignored the warning signs of my empty health reserves. And my empty tank of health spilled over into an empty emotional tank as well.
As we grow up, some emotional losses include lost dreams. We may imagine the perfect spouse (there are none), or the perfect house (they all require upkeep), or the perfect children (if you are a parent, try not to laugh!).
When I dreamed of my adult life, My plans never included being 100 pounds overweight. Of being out of breath walking up a flight of stairs, of being pinched by theatre seats, or having ankles swell each day from carrying extra weight. I think of the 30 years that I resigned myself to misery and I am saddened at the loss of missed opportunity and missed experiences.
When I found a program that helped me lose weight, that loss led to so many incredible gains. The most obvious were gains in better health, more energy, greater mobility. But I also gained mental clarity and creative reserves and recaptured hope for the future. And the reason I began coaching is because I do not want anyone else to lose another day of their life to lost health or lost hope. I don’t want anyone to lose sight of their worth and their potential. But even more than helping those who have lost physical health, I desire to seek out those whose spiritual health is in jeopardy.
We were created to have a relationship with the One who created us. The really great news is that our good and perfect God is on a mission to seek out lost souls.
Luke 15 includes 3 parables about lost things: a coin, a lost sheep, and a lost son. Some, like the coin, are unaware they are lost. They may just be unaware their Creator is looking for them. Others are foolishly wandering away and needing a loving Shepherd to show them the way home. And some, who have actively rebelled against a Father, will be still welcomed back and restored when they repent. In all three cases, there is much rejoicing in the finding of the lost.
First of all, I pray that you would seek Him while there is yet time. Isaiah 55:6
“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near” (ESV). I pray that like the lost son you will return to a Father who has eagerly been watching and waiting for you. He will rejoice and greatly celebrate your return.
Perhaps you have already returned to Him but you need to lose the burdens that have kept you from the life He created you for. Hopefully these words will encourage you, “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28
Jesus said in John 10:10b that, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” While you yet have breath, please do not lose the opportunity to be found by a loving Savior who celebrates each lost soul that finds its way to Him.
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