Lost and Found
by cBrown.Cooksey
Have you ever misplaced something very important and spent time looking for it over a period of days or weeks…maybe months…without success? This happens in our house quite often, and everyone looks to me as “supermom” to be the “finder of all things lost.” Years ago, I learned a helpful secret about how to locate such items. The secret is simply, “Stop looking and pray,” asking God to help you find the lost item. Who better to ask for help than the One who has the whole world in His sites, who knows every intricate and hidden detail about your entire life…including the hiding place for your missing item? If it matters to you, it matters to your Heavenly Father.
A few days ago I had lunch with a couple between our sons’ baseball games. The husband was complaining that he had purchased a brand new pair of prescription glasses three weeks earlier but had quickly misplaced them. He had been searching high and low with no success in finding them. His wife said that she was tired of hearing him complain about it (and having to read menus for him!) and wanted him to go ahead and just order a new pair. I asked them one simple question…”Have you prayed about it?” They both looked at me with a doubtful, questioning look while shaking their heads, “no.” I shared with them my secret resource in finding lost things and gave examples of past items that God has helped me find once I prayed about it. They liked the idea of trying this “experiment in prayer,” and we all agreed to pray that God would help them find the glasses. I prayed as I left the restaurant that God would bless them with His assistance in this matter like He has blessed me so many times before.
In my quiet time the next morning (at 5 a.m.), I was reading the following passage: “ There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:…a time to search and a time to give up…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1,6) I felt that God was telling me that it was now time for Frank to “search” and not “give up.” Again I prayed for Frank to find his glasses.
At 8am that same morning, my son and I arrived at the ball field for batting practice prior to his morning game. Coffee steamed from my travel mug as I slowly walked over to greet the other parents and coaches. We had a late game the night before, and it seemed too early for us to be back out at the park. I was enjoying the quiet coolness of the morning when Frank excitedly called to me from inside the batting cage where he was pitching to the players. I thought to myself, “This is way too much enthusiasm for this early in the morning.” I looked in his direction and he was pointing to his face and wearing a gigantic smile. I looked a little closer through the fence and realized that he was also wearing his glasses! “Chills of thrill” ran up and down my body, and it was as if God had just blessed the socks right off of me. I no longer needed my caffeine jolt, because I had received one straight from heaven. Frank said that he had found them earlier that morning under his car seat as he was getting in the driver’s seat to come to the field. The night before his wife had driven the car and adjusted the seat forward, leaving the glasses in clear view for him to find. They had been there all along, but God was waiting to reveal them to him after he asked for His help.
Frank, his wife and I were thrilled and thankful about how God answered our prayers so quickly. Isn’t it awesome to see God answer a prayer almost instantaneously? I am amazed and blessed every time this happens, and I honestly can’t think of one thing that I haven’t found after praying about it! Yes, there are still times where I search and search for something without success, and then realize that I have forgotten to pray. But once I send those prayers on their way, it’s as if God has been just waiting on that queue to begin His work. I even had an occasion where I lost my keys, and I was down on my knees in a closet searching for them without any luck. I realized that I had not prayed about it, and right there, on my knees, I sent up my request to God for help. I opened my eyes to begin my search again, and the hidden keys were revealed right before my eyes on the closet floor! No, my answers don’t always come that quickly, but no matter what, I know they are straight from God, bending down from heaven to bless me. I totally believe in the concept that He cares about even the tiniest details in our lives, and this is just one example.
A story in 2 Kings 6: 1 – 7 recounts an incident where God assisted a servant of Elisha in finding an iron axhead which had fallen into the Jordan river as he was cutting down a tree. “5As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. ‘Oh, my Lord,’ he cried, ‘it was borrowed!’ 6The man of God asked, ‘Where did it fall?’ When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. 7’Lift is out,’ he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.’
This incident is recorded to show that God provides care and provision to thost who trust Him, even in the seemingly insignificant events of everyday life. If it matters to you, it matters to God!
Since I began praying about “lost items,” I have learned some simple lessons over the years:
- Pray about everything.
- He wants to help you, but you must first ASK.
- Then you must ACT, and He will guide your steps.
- He hears our prayers and ANSWERS them (though sometimes He doesn’t answer right away or the way WE think they should be answered…but He always has our best interest in mind.)
- Trusting Him with the small things helps build our trust in Him for the BIG things.
Also, the verses below are the ones that triggered this idea years ago, when I first began praying about “lost” items.
Ask, Seek, Knock
7“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Blessings!
everyday encouragement 