Losing and Finding

It seems that our household is misplacing too many things lately. As we move things from one room to another cleaning up clutter we are moving things out of their normal, easy to find places. Not everything that goes missing gets found. When it does get found there is rejoicing.

Last night my daughter was looking everywhere for her ipod jack to sync her ipod on the computer. Her regular routine is to keep it attached to the computer until she brings her ipod to be rejuvenated. For some reason it was not where it was supposed to be. We moved furniture, looked through drawers, pretty much turned the room upside down looking for it! It was not to be found. We interrogated each of her girls but they insisted they had not removed it. Finally, Erin made her way to her husband and asked if he had seen it. Yes, he had. He had used it, wrapped it up neatly and put it aside where he knew where it was. Our rejoicing had a bit of frustration added in, but we were happy it did not need to be replaced.

When we live in relationship with others we often find that losing our things is a normal everyday occurrence. However, our possessions can be lost and replaced so much easier than our relationships! Losing a friend or a family member is tragic in that the unique person and their relationship to us can never be replaced. It is very important to keep our relationships healthy and if they become lost, to reach out and do our best to find them again.

When I lose my things I often pray and ask God to show me where they are. More often than not He leads me directly to them. He does care about our things. He cares about our world and wants us to care for our worldly possessions. He cares more, though, for our relationship with Him and with others. I must remember to pray when I lose a relationship too!

God went the extra mile to restore the relationship between us. He took the cross and made it the healing balm between us. Should we not do the same with those who have ought against us?

Forgiving Lord, You are our Savior. You are our healer. You are love! My flesh too often lets people slip away from me. I fail to humble myself to bring them back into right relationship with me. I too often want to be right! Thank You for Your humble example. Thank You for forgiving me! Thank You for restoring our relationship so that I can find what was lost through sin. Lord, hep me to lose myself and find the joy of togetherness!