Have you ever lost something you value very much? Years ago when my daughter Bernita was little, she got lost by a friends house we were visiting. I still remember the experience we had as if it happened yesterday. We were walking around his garden just enjoying each other’s company when suddenly Bernita just disappeared. She loved to discover new things and decided that the grown-ups were boring and went on her own adventure.
When we finally realized that she was gone we ran around the house calling her name and looking everywhere for her. We even looked inside the house and finally realized that she had wondered out on to the road and disappeared. I cannot begin to explain the sick feeling I felt in my stomach and the feeling of hopelessness written all over my wife Mary’s face as we together frantically started running up and down the road screaming her name at the top of our voices.
The next 15 minutes felt like an eternity. Hope seemed to be fading with each passing minute. We were prepared to do whatever it took to find her. Seriously, I would have banged on every single door in the neighborhood and stopped every single car if necessary. Failure was not an option. When we could hardly control our emotions any longer, she walked out of a garden about 100 meters down the road. Words cannot explain the relief and joy we experienced that day after having lost something so valuable and then found it again. Bernita had no idea why we were so worried.
In Matthew 18:12 Jesus gave us a picture of how God searches for us when we stray: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?”
David, a shepherd himself, reminds us of how much God values each and every one of His children and the lengths he is willing to go to find us: “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there” (Psalm 139:7–8).
I am comforted with these words in the Bible that God will not give up. Just remember that when your children go astray. Remember that when you go astray. Failure is not an option for God. He will seek you out. Wherever you go, you never will escape His presence. He will search for you because He loves you and cares for you more than you will ever know.
Have a wonderful week!