Can you remember a time you were genuinely lost or forgotten? What did you feel like?
When I was in elementary school, I did not take a bus, but walked or rode my bike almost every day. One day I had a project to bring home, and mom said she would pick me up at the end of the day. So, I stood out front as I watched the buses come and go, and my friends walk and ride away. I was there alone for what seemed like forever. There I was, not exactly lost, because I knew where I was geographically, but I did not know how to get home. I felt lost, forgotten, and disoriented. I did not know which way to turn or what to do. Fear began to play games with me. Eventually, I gathered myself, and my project, and returned to the school. It was quiet and empty, the emptiness matching my sense of feeling lost. Fifty-five or so years later I can still remember that sense of lostness.
Entering the office, I think I startled the Principal who was the only person remaining in the building. She helped me call home and sent me back out to wait for my ride. More waiting. . . but what a relief when the car pulled up. I was found, safe, and soon home where I belonged.
One of my prayers lately is that I would remember that sense of lostness. Why? Because the Bible says over and over that all people, whether we know Him or not, are sheep, and all of us, like sheep, have strayed and been lost at some point.
I really want to keep this sense of lostness fresh in front of me, so it will prompt me to compassion, because people without a personal relationship with Jesus, are eternally lost, until they are found. This kind of lost and found is not about a long wait curbside, but about eternity.
Interestingly, God has never lost sight of us. Back in the Garden of Eden, after the two disobeyed the only restriction, they hid, but Creator came straight to them. He already knew where they were and everything that had happened. The questions He asked were for them to understand the significance of their choice the resulting consequences. He always lets us do our thing, because He wants voluntary lovers. All we need to do is turn to Him, choosing to be found by Him.
This same Creator who is Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit all in one, always knows where we are and is always, inviting us into a personal, eternal relationship. I want to have Creator’s heart for the lost motivating me to invite the lost without Christ to accept His open invitation to come home to His eternal family.
Abba, give me and grow in me, eyes of love and compassion. I want your sight, to see beyond the facades, to the hearts of the lost who are hungry to be found.
