Lost and Found

Have you ever lost something that was valuable? Before I go any further, No, I did not lose James. I just felt like I should get that out there right away... :)

This week I lost something. Something of value. Something that I actually did not even know was lost until it was found.

Stephen came home Thursday afternoon and said quite nonchalantly "we need to go by the church..." He said it with almost a silly expression on his face that I understand now was his attempt at trying to keep me from getting upset or worried as he told me the rest of the story (he knows me so well!).

"What? Why? What's going on? What church?" (Stephen has been sending his resume to churches in the area so we had talked about quite a few churches the last few weeks.)

"We need to go by Faith (the church we're attending). They called me and said that they found your wallet."

"What? My wallet...?" And then I began to remember a sweet, toddlerish boy that I love so very much (who shall remain nameless - ha!) who happened to be sitting with us in church (instead of in the nursery) this past Sunday and who had played with ALL of the contents of his diaper bag including my wallet. It made perfect sense now. We had forgotten it on our way out of the sanctuary. Except then I remembered it was Thursday. Thursday!!! And I hadn't had the wallet in my possession since Sunday!!! And then I started to ask questions like, "Who had it all that time? Was it turned in on Sunday? Or Wednesday? Have you checked our bank account? Is all our money gone?" And say things like, "It has my driver's license, and debit card, and, oh, remember I have a credit card now...! And my library card!!" (wow! I am so sad.)

And then to add insult to injury, I asked Stephen questions like "what kind of person does not even know their wallet has been gone for four days? Am I that much of a homebody? Do I not do anything?" (I hadn't gone anywhere this week because I was trying to catch up on all the household things that needed to be done since James had been sick for two weeks.) The church had actually said in the message that we "should come pick it up" - maybe they also thought it was strange we hadn't called in almost a week to see if it was there. Very quickly I went from worried it was gone to embarrassed that I didn't even realize it was lost.

This week my wallet was lost. And then found. But, it all worked out in the end and everything was there...all 33$ to my name (ok....slight exaggeration!). :)

I continued to think about this idea of "lost and found" over the last few days. I thought back to all the "lost and found" collections that I've ever seen and I've seen quite a few in my teaching days. I thought about those collections of lost and forgotten things that just sat in boxes unclaimed. Maybe their owners didn't know they were lost or maybe they just didn't know where to find them. Either way, the items were not valued highly and, in a sense, discarded.

As I reflected more, I was reminded of the three "lost parables" found in Luke 15. I decided to spend some time rereading them. I love them all, but I particularly love the Parable of the Lost Sheep:

"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts in on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." (Luke 15:4-7)

I don't remember much about the years that I was truly "lost" spiritually. I am so thankful that I came to know Jesus at an early age and accepted him as my Savior. However, I remember a period of time in my early teen years that I was living only for myself and was blinded by and entrenched in sin. I didn't realize how lost I was and how far I had strayed, until I was "found." And I remember when I repented of that sin and truly turned my life over to God, that I rejoiced! I rejoiced in knowing that I had a Heavenly Father that had loved me through it all and accepted me with open arms. I rejoiced that God valued me, loved me, and deeply desired a relationship with me.

How many people in this world that we encounter all the time (in our families, at our jobs, or at the places that we frequent) are walking around lost and spiritually dead? So many of them don't even know they are lost. Or maybe they sense that lostness but just don't where to look or Who to turn to. They don't know that Jesus is the answer for the emptiness that they feel. I spend way more time worrying about me than I should and far less time worrying about those that desperately need to hear of Jesus love for them. They may be lost but they are not unvalued, discarded, unclaimed...not to Jesus. Have we been guilty of devaluing unbelievers by remaining silent? I know I have.

I pray that I would have the same attitude of the father in the parable of the lost son, "...celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." (Luke 15:32)

I'm thankful that God reminds me of His truth through everyday events like a lost wallet. :)

And I was reminded of this song by Chris Tomlin: