Lost things!

I’m sure we all have things about our own character and actions that frustrate ourselves…(or maybe that is just me!!!) But one thing about me that I really annoy myself with is that I am so often in a rush that I have a tendency to put things down and lose things. I misplace my keys multiple times a week and now have lanyards on both my work and house keys to make them more difficult to lose! I am forever phoning my mobile phone to find it again and it’s often under a pile of things or shoved down the sofa cushion! However once in a while I lose something of great importance and it drives me mad! 

Just before Christmas I lost something very precious to me. Over the years I have been collecting charms on my pandora bracelet and it held great sentimental value. There is a charm of a torah scroll brought on my pilgrimage to Israel, a charm that I brought to celebrate my daughter coming to be a part of our family, my first ever mum charm gifted on mothers day after years walking through infertility, charms bought by family and friends that hold precious memories. I love to wear it as looking at it brings all the memories flooding back to me. At the beginning of the year when I went to put it on I couldn’t find it anywhere and so the search began! 

When I started looking I wasn’t too bothered, every so often I would go and look in a place that had come to mind to see if it was there and when it wasn’t, I simply went about my day. However, as time wore on I got more and more frantic. Added to this, I began to feel silly and ashamed that I could have lost it. My husband, you see, id the complete opposite to me, he puts everything in its place and very rarely misplaces anything, so it made me feel even worse that I had done something stupid. I confided in my mum about my frustration but couldn’t bring myself to tell Paul! 

By mid february, after 6 weeks of searching I began to worry that I had lost it somewhere outside of the house and it was never coming back. It was then that my search became a little more frenetic. I soon began clearing out drawers, looking behind units, searching the little pockets in all of my handbags and everything in between! With every new place ticked off my list I became more and more desperate. When Paul took me to the Pandora shop just before valentines day to see if there was anything that took my fancy I could have cried! 

However there was always a little bubble of hope that would rise in me when I thought of a new place to search. After a couple of days of intense searching, while packing to go away on holiday, I had a thought. In my previous blog post: Here I talked about my favourite dress company and how all of their dresses come with pockets. I am forever finding random things in the pockets, so I decided to clear out all my popsy pockets to see if I could find my necklace; and there, in the pocket of one of my christmas dresses, was my beloved bracelet. 

Now I know I can be one for the dramatics but I honestly felt a happiness and relief that I haven’t felt for a long, long time! I immediately shouted my husband and explained what had happened, admitting the distress I had been feeling and the pure joy I felt at finally having found it. I then promptly phoned my mum and we cheered together as I explained where I found it! Throughout the day I could be heard exclaiming “I’m so happy!” as I looked at my wrist, such was the relief to have found such a precious lost item. 

My loss and celebration of its return reminded me of a trilogy of stories Jesus told about lost things and it can be found in Luke chapter 15. As I read these tales of things once lost but now found I found it really striking. One thing I have always loved about these stories is the great rejoicing over finding that precious thing once more, it always led to a party and a celebration, others were called to join in and experience the delight of the reunion. As I thought of my precious bracelet and the storied Jesus told I felt great wonder and challenge.

Isaiah 62:5 declares: as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

And one of my favourite verses of scripture, Zephaniah 3:17 says: 

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.

He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you,

but will rejoice over you with singing

God rejoices over you, over me, in the way that the found things were celebrated in Luke 15, and the intense joy, relief and pleasure I felt at finding my beloved bracelet is what God feels over me, and any other of his beloved coming into his kingdom. 

I was brought to my knees as I considered those precious and beautiful gems of people close to me who do not yet know the Lord, those who I have longed to encounter the father, those who fail to see their worth and battle to accept the fact that they are priceless in the kingdom. As I thought of the longing I had felt for my lost jewellery I considered how much more does God long for his precious children?

I was also challenged as I began to think about the people that I encounter on a daily basis who are yet to know God. Do I feel as passionately about sharing God’s kingdom as God does in his search for them?  Am I guilty of looking at people and seeing them as ‘tarnished’ and not worth so much effort? Do I need to become more focused in my search for lost souls? Do I celebrate with joy when they come into the kingdom? 

May we join Jesus in the search of salvation and may we ever celebrate and rejoice when the precious souls are found.