It is common for Christian testimonies to begin with a rough past…a terrible story, in dark days, that ended in a saving grace that deeply and wildly changed a life. Sometimes childhood was the source of trauma that kicked off everything horrible in one’s life. Sometimes there was adulthood devastation that ultimately drove someone to their knees and uncovered the truth they never knew all along about God. But, what about those who have only had a bumpy ride – not an earthquake? Maybe there have been stumbling blocks, hard things, painful things, but not quite brink of death level stuff, yet these people still live bound in chains of sadness and anxiety. Are those lost sheep? They don’t appear to be lost and they never really wandered far enough off for someone to have to go looking for them.
Are you one of those sheep who is accounted for? You’re compliantly standing in that sacred flock of 100 but you feel lost. You’re dead center, in God’s hands, but you’re in so much internal pain that you’re lost even in your own skin. This is where you’re supposed to be, right? You followed all the rules, you love Jesus with a genuine heart, you read His word and go to Him in prayer for everything, but something still feels lost. Everywhere you look, there are others who can help you, but you don’t know how to talk to them. You question whether or not they care to listen. What you have to share or say doesn’t seem like that big of a deal when you consider the stories the others around you can tell. You start to wonder…if you’re not visible and significant within the flock are you also less seen by God?
Jesus often found himself in a crowd of people – he was an expert at seeing people amidst many others. Luke 9:11 says, “…But the crowds found out where he was going, and they followed him. He welcomed them and taught them about the Kingdom of God, and he healed those who were sick.” Did you catch that? He welcomed the people in the crowd. He healed those who were sick. Those he healed were people in the crowd.
You don’t have to be in a physically desolate place to be seen or healed. You just have to be ready to accept that you can’t heal yourself. That “me-first” mentality won’t get you anywhere but further lost, because “me” was never supposed to be first. God created you. He is the best one to take care of you, so let him. Trust that if you make your life all about Him rather than you, you will be found; no longer lost but present and accounted for.
A favorite song of mine has a line in it that says, “I’ll come to find you, whatever it takes.” Whatever…it…takes… In the story of the lost sheep, God leaves the flock of 99; he risks it all to save one. I believe that when God says He will find us, whatever it takes, that means he can also find us in a sea of others. We don’t have to be singled out and far away to be lost or to be found. Yes, you can be someone who is lost in the place you’re supposed to be. Yes, you can be terrified on a ship that is on calm waters. Yes, you can be hungry in a place where food abounds. Yes, you can be exhausted laying in bed after sleeping 12 hours. And yes, you are significant enough in God’s eyes, loved enough, and worth the effort, to be seen in your struggle that wouldn’t make a very interesting TV show. Lost is lost, no matter where you are, and God is all knowing and all seeing. Be assured that found is also found. Be patient and keep seeking – He sees you and is coming.
“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me…You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head…I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!…I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night – but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.” Psalm 139: 1, 5, 11-12a
Untrained Christian 