Are You Lost?
By Shauna Leis
“And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
Luke 15:5-7
He could not have been more than about two years old, and I think of a different nationality. But, the sheer look of terror in his eyes sent chills down my spine, just thinking what this sweet little boy was feeling inside, as we all quickly came to the conclusion that he was indeed lost. We were at the water park of a local amusement park and were spending a quiet day just resting in the shade near the wave pool. I was relaxing on a chair with my youngest child when we started to notice a commotion near the edge of the water. A young boy was wandering around, and another mother had finally stopped to ask him whether he was lost. He did not seem to understand her question as he was so little and did not speak well, not to mention the language barrier.
My own heart was in my throat as so many ugly scenarios began to play out in my brain of “what if this were my child.” What would I do if my children were ever lost? Of course, we go through the drill every time we leave the house of what to do if we were ever separated – find a uniformed officer, go to the customer service center in a store, etc. But, truly no parent ever wants to think about the reality of losing a child at all.
Now, thankfully this particular story had a happy ending since the parents and small boy were reunited. One mother stayed with the child while another person went in search of the uniformed officer standing at the gate. While all of this was transpiring, the frantic mother came rushing back to the scene incredibly overjoyed to find her child safe and sound. My heart definitely went out to her to know such grief and happiness all in one moment. Grief that she had walked off and lost her child and happiness to have him returned unharmed.
Friend, what a sweet parallel this is to our lives with God. God is that ever-loving parent experiencing total and complete anguish when we, His dear children, turn up missing or have gone astray. And there are many reasons that we become separated from God – some are of our own choosing where we just blatantly walk away to see what life might be like on the other side of the fence. Other times we just have our head down munching on the yummy grass in front of us and pay no attention to how far we have strayed away from God and the rest of the flock. Either way, we find ourselves lost and alone.
God, however, does not want any of us to stray away from Him because He longs for us to spend eternity in heaven with Him. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Some people ask why Christ has not returned to the earth before now, and I truly believe it is because of this verse. God wants everyone to have the opportunity to know Jesus and choose to follow after Him.
So, what do we do when we are truly lost and separated from God? The parable of the prodigal son, in the latter half of Luke 15, definitely gives us some guidance. The story is likely very familiar to most as the younger son had decided he wanted his share of the inheritance from his father now, instead of waiting for his father to pass it on to him through death. The son strays until he has nothing left and realizes he is alone. Luke 15:17 says, “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!’” Friend, we, too, must come to our senses! When we have strayed away from God or have never accepted Him in the first place, we have to wake up and come to our senses that we are separated from Him for whatever reason and admit it to Him.
Then, we have to go. Luke 15:20a says, “So he got up and went to his father.” He did not waste any more time contemplating his situation and surroundings; he just got up and left once he determined he would be much better off back with his father. We, too, have to get up and go back to our heavenly Father, who is patiently waiting for us to return. We must not delay any longer in returning to Him and the protection of His presence.
Finally, we have to understand the Father’s reaction when we return. Many of us picture God as this judgmental being on high just waiting to punish us for our indiscretions. However, the imagery that we find in Luke 15:20b should quickly put our mind to ease. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” Did you see that, dear one? The father ran to the son. That is the same thing that God does when we are returning to Him. God runs to us with His arms open wide and welcomes us back home.
Are you willing to put aside whatever is keeping you lost in this world? Are you willing to go back to the Father? He is waiting patiently for you to return to the fold. And friend, when you do return to the flock, there is so much rejoicing in heaven, the likes of which we could not even begin to conceive!
Pray with me: Abba, Father. Lord, we are just like lost sheep, going astray in this world. However, we do not want to be lost any longer. We long to be back in the fold again with You. God, show us the way. We long to see You running to us with arms open wide, loving us more than what we could ever possibly deserve. God, we love You so very much and pray all of this in the name above all names, Jesus Christ! Amen.