Lost and Found

Have you ever lost something, and after days of looking for it, just gave up? Maybe it wasn't important or maybe it was so important that you ended up having to replace it immediately. Either way it is so frustrating...the wasted time, energy and money. And maybe what's even more frustrating is that sometimes much later, we find what we were missing. The lost is finally found. It's been right there all the time, and yet we missed it. While there's the excitement over finding the lost object, there's regret that we didn't find it sooner.

I find myself spiritually contemplating this same concept. I lose momentum in my walk with the Lord. I lose joy in serving Him. I treat someone carelessly. I speak out of anger or jealousy or frustration. I lose my testimony. I lose my joy. I lose the compassion that has been so freely given. And one day, I wake up and realize I am not the person I intended to be; I'm not who God intended me to be. I've lost myself in the rubbish of the world.  It's frustrating, the wasted time, energy and yes, even money.

And like the lost item, it's even more aggravating to see how easy it would have been to reclaim those lost things. God's redeeming mercy is new each and every day.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) …” Ephesians 2:4-5.

But God....oh how thankful I am for those two words...He's always in the redeeming business. Redeeming each day that I mess up. Redeeming each moment that I waste. Redeeming relationships that I've ruined. Redeeming my marriage, family, job, health....

Because of His great love for me...He saves me. And He keeps saving me....everyday He's forgiving and drawing me closer to this reclaimed life He has designed for those who call on Him. I am the lost thing, found. I am the prodigal running home. I am the ultimate sinner. And He is loving me, making me more alive in Him, reclaiming me as His own. 

I don't have to live in regret. I don't have to live in guilt. He's covered all that. Now I can walk in new mercy because I have been found.