My wife lost the key to the van again. Actually, to be honest, I lost the keys but in the spirit of good leadership I first blamed my wife and kids for losing them. Don’t judge me, I had precedence.
Either way, I was desperate to find them because I knew it would be hundreds of dollars to replace it. So, the hunt was on. We looked everywhere in the house but they were nowhere to be found.
So, I promptly put on latex gloves, headed for the outside trash to started digging like a mad man. It was disgusting, slimy and it smelled. Worst of all the keys weren’t there. I know because I looked… twice! (Even if they were in the trash I don’t know if I could have Purelled my hands enough.)
Nevertheless, I persevered and finally found them, in the one place the enemy thought I would never look- the pocket of my flannel jacket. (If it makes you feel better my wife laughed at me for ten minutes.)
Forgive the simple analogy but we are a lot like my key.
Sometimes we lose our way, get distracted and end up in places we shouldn’t be. The key was never designed to rot at the bottom of my trash can or to spend its life in the pocket of my flannel. It was designed for a greater purpose than that.
Want to know a powerful truth? God didn’t create you for any of these things either. He created you to have a purpose in this life and a heavenly eternity in the next.
Maybe you’re reading this today and you find yourself in places you shouldn’t be. In fact, your life might even have some trash in it and you might even be a little bit lost.
If so, I have good news for you – God is never lost and he always finds us just when we need him if we’re willing.
Wherever you’re at right now here are two reasons God finds us.
God finds you to save you.
This is the whole reason he sent Jesus to earth. Luke 19:10 makes it pretty clear.
For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.
You might not know it but without a relationship with Jesus, you are lost in your sin. That’s why it says ‘seek and save.’ He didn’t come just to find us and say ‘hey I found you.’ No, he came to save us from the penalty of our sin.
That’s how much he loves us according to Romans 5:8.
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God finds you to make you clean.
Dirty. That’s how sin makes us feel and it’s how we look to God without Jesus. That’s why it’s so important for us to call out to him.
Take a look at 1 John 1:9.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Simply put that when God finds us and we confess our sin and need for him he makes us clean. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.
I love the way Psalm 40:1-2 puts it.
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
No matter how lost you feel right now, how trashy your life might seem or how bad you messed it up. Jesus came so that you could be found when you call to him and when you do he makes you clean. It’s at this point that we begin to understand our true purpose.
I feel like I lose my self frequently because I lack faith in myself and that carries over to my faith and relationships and my anger, I struggle to stay consistent with God but I never stop praying to him to get me past the doubt
Danny,
I appreciate your honesty. Thank you for sharing. We’ve all been there. Two things… Don’t quit and don’t do it alone. Sometimes when we struggle our reaction is to become solitary. This is not God’s will so don’t let that be you. You will thrive in community, your anger will subside and your faith will grow. Praying for you brother! Joshua 1:8-9