Lost and Found

Church-goers were able to scan a table of lost and found items at our church this past Sunday, seeking their lost treasures.  I thought it quite humorous that the majority of items on this table were glasses.  Some quite thick, likely much needed, glasses.  How did these poor souls get home?  And judging by lens strength of some of them, I guarantee these people will never be able to find their way back to the church.  We should get a team out into the city, looking for people wandering around squinting at street signs and venturing into traffic.  There were also a couple sets of keys, a few Bibles, daytimers and a bit of jewelry.

With the exception of the gold leopard broach with ruby eyes, most of the items appeared, in my opinion, to have some importance.  How do you get home without keys?  How do you see without glasses?  How do you read God’s Word without your Bible?

My son is allergic to peanuts.  I carry an epipen with us, in case of accidental peanut contact.  At first, I carried that epipen everywhere with me.  I wouldn’t let him out of my sight without knowing that someone in the vicinity had, and could work, the epipen.  Over time, I have relaxed my epipen intensity.  Often I forget it at home.  Some of our friends probably don’t even know of his allergy.  The further away from the tragedy of his first allergic reaction we are, the less hold it has over our minds.  The epipen could easily end up on the Lost and Found table, and I likely wouldn’t even notice.  Until a crucial moment when I needed it.

Our trust in God can be a bit like the epipen.  Initially, when we have a moment of crisis and recognize a need for God, we lean into Him continually.  We pray throughout our day, we talk to others about faith matters, we read the Scriptures that provide us comfort.  Then, as crisis subsides, we talk less.  We pray less.  We acknowledge Him less.  Pretty soon our trust in Him is on the Lost and Found table… and we are not even aware of its absence in our lives.  Until it is needed again, in another moment of crisis.

Here is a little something to think about… the amount of space you give God in your every day, non-crisis moments will directly impact your ability to handle crisis when it comes.  Don’t wait for crisis and then find out that your faith is on a table, in a church, 9 miles away.  Connect with Him now.  Your faith may feel like it is elsewhere, but He isn’t.  He’s sitting beside you, waiting and ready.

Peace.

P.S. Writing this has encouraged me to re-ignite my epipen diligence.  Matters of life and death should never be taken lightly.  Epipen AND faith both fall into this category!