August 5, 2005

It's Good to be Found

I first saw the sign during an early morning jog through my neighborhood.  Printed on computer paper and slipped into a plastic sleeve, someone had nailed it to a tree near my home.  Curious, I went over for a closer look.   The title caught my attention:  

L O S T

My Dearly Loved Kitty

Beneath the heading appeared a color photograph of a silver-gray cat.  On either side of the picture a single word in bold letters stood out: “Reward”.   Underneath the photo it read, “Please help me find Fluffy and bring her back home.”  The bottom of the poster listed the owners name and contact number.  

Taking mental note to keep watch for the lost cat I continued my jog.

Several days passed with no trace of Fluffy the kitty.  Search and rescue activities in the neighborhood intensified.  More posters began appearing throughout the area.  At first I noticed just one or two posted at the entrances of nearby subdivisions.  Soon, however, they hung on light posts at every intersection.  On corkboards above community mailboxes.  On the gateposts of nearby parks.  The signs were rapidly multiplying.  And with them came the desperate plea of Fluffy’s owner.  Please join in the search.  Please help the rescue efforts.  Please bring Fluffy back home again.

Let me pause here for a moment.  Before I finish the story of Fluffy’s fate, I’d like to ask a question.  Have you ever felt lost?  Not lost like a tourist in a new town, but lost like a creature bewildered about which way is home?  Lost because your life has taken an unexpected detour?  Maybe at one time you had your world figured out.  You knew who you were, what you wanted, and where you belonged.  Your heart had a place of comfort and contentment to call home.  But then circumstances changed.  The unexpected occurred.  The pink slip arrived.  The divorce papers were served.  The doctor’s diagnosis came back.  Before you knew it, the certainty in your life was gone.  Your sense of safety and security vanished.  In their place came feelings of isolation and separation.  You suddenly felt--lost.  Lost in a world you no longer recognized.

Believe it or not, there’s an Old Testament prophet who understood these feelings.  He wrote about it in Isaiah 53:6, “We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.  We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.” (MSG)  If you’ve ever felt “lost” you know the feeling of helplessness.  You know you can’t find your way home on your own. 

Fortunately, there is hope. 

Just as Fluffy’s master went looking for her, your Master has done the same.  The God who made you didn’t abandon you.  Instead, he sent his Son on a search and rescue mission to find you.  Luke 19:10 puts it this way, “The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.” (NCV)   That’s good news.  God didn’t post any “Lost” signs in an effort to locate you.  He came personally to save you.  Why?  Because God doesn’t desert the lost.  He never has and never will. 

About two weeks after I first saw the sign in my neighborhood I noticed it had changed.  Someone with a big blue marker had crossed out the word “Lost”.  Scrawled next to it in capital letters it now read, “Found”.  Though I wasn’t at the reunion of kitty and master, I’m betting it was a joyful affair.  Probably full of hugging, petting and purring.  The lost was now found.  The separation was over!  The joy of belonging to each other could resume!

If you sometimes feel like a lost soul in this world, don’t despair.  

Someone is looking for you.  

If you ever feel like you’ve wandered far from home, have courage.  

Somebody is searching for you.  

In fact, he's been seeking you your whole life.  Are you ready to be found?  If so, the solution is quite simple.  Stop wandering.  Stop trying to do your own thing.  Stop trying to go your own way.  Instead, let yourself be found by the Master.  He loves you more deeply than you can imagine.  

What does it feel like to be found?  Ahhh, it’s something to savor.  If Fluffy could talk I’m sure she’d tell you.  There’s nothing like being swept up into your Masters arms.  Arms that will carry you home.  Home to a place of joy, peace and safety.  Home to a place where the separation is ended and the joy of belonging can resume.

It feels good to be found!

 “I have wandered away like a lost sheep.  Please come after me...”  Psalm 119:176 CEV

Todd Chobotar
Mission development
Florida Hospital