Rhema: Lost And Found

Have you ever lost something and you get so frustrated trying to find it? I mean, you are quite sure you had it with you. Maybe it’s a pair of keys or your favourite pen. It was right there a second ago. But now it’s gone. Or maybe you were walking with someone and then all of a sudden, they aren’t there. You frantically turn around and cast your eyes in every direction, but they are nowhere to be found.

It’s quite interesting to note that you can only lose something which you once had.

The experience of loss is plagued with tangible familiarity, yet stinging absence.

You become so aware of something that isn’t there. You can see it when you close your eyes, you can feel it when you rub your fingers together, you can almost hear it rattling in your pocket. But it’s just not there.

Lost.

In the journey of Christianity, there are different seasons and I have to admit that I’m only starting to understand this concept. There are some seasons when God’s presence is so real and tangible. Your faith is growing in leaps and bounds and things just couldn’t get any better. Then there are other seasons when you feel lost. The fire has gone out. The silence is deafening. Nothing seems to be working. Maybe something triggered you, or perhaps it just came out of the blue.

Lost.

Your enthusiasm is lost. Your passion is lost. Everything that was once so clear is now contaminated with doubt. You look around and feel confused. The worst thing is that you have that sense of nostalgia. Tangible familiarity. Yet stinging absence.

You know what it feels like to walk with God. You’ve heard His voice. You’ve been immersed in His grace. You’ve seen His hand. Yet, you seemingly can’t find it anymore.

Let’s go back to our basic analogy. When you’re looking for an item that you lost, the truth is that you can only find it if your eyesight is good, the place is well-illuminated and you’re looking in the right place.

Based on this simple concept, here are 3 tips that I’ve found to be useful when navigating a season of spiritual obscurity:

1. Check your location

When I lose something, I can only find it when I’m searching in the right place. I could have 20-20 vision and my field of view is as bright as day, but if I’m looking in the wrong place, I could never find what I’m searching for. Let’s explore the following passages:

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?
Luke 24:1‭-‬5 NIV (emphasis added)

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.
John 6:63 NIV (emphasis added)

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19‭-‬21 NIV

The most common reason why we don’t find lost items, is because we are looking for them in the wrong place. Have you heard the story of the man who couldn’t find his car and he became so distraught that he started searching for it under other people’s cars? Our brain has a tendency to forget that the place where we last saw an item is probably the same place where we will find it.

Not surprisingly, when we feel lost and separated from God, our first mistake is often to turn to the flesh.

The worst thing about escaping to the flesh is that it offers a numbing counterfeit with temporary relief. It soothes us for a moment and makes us feel slightly better. Yet at the back of our minds, we can never quite shake off that sense of discontetment.

You know what you lost. And this isn’t it.

Unless we make the conscious decision to seek, then we will continue to settle for less than what God intends for our lives.

2. Check your eyes

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to wear spectacles. I know, it’s a strange thing to desire. But to be honest, I just like the aesthetic. Interestingly, I’ve never had any problems with my eyesight that would warrant me to get glasses. However, for those who wear spectacles, they will definitely tell you that when their vision starts to get blurry, then it means that they need to book an appointment with the optician to revise their prescription.

You could be searching in the right place, and the area is well-lit. But maybe the reason why you aren’t finding what you’re looking for is because your vision needs to be corrected. Let’s explore another passage:

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.
Luke 24:13‭-‬16‭, ‬30‭-‬31 NIV (emphasis added)

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Ephesians 1:18‭-‬19 NIV

Sometimes pain can blur our vision. Other times it could be disobedience or constant disappointment. Whatever is causing the spiritual myopia, we need ask the Great Physician to open our eyes so that we can see things clearly.

3. Check the lighting

It is futile to try and find something in a dark room. You could be looking in the right place and your eyesight is perfect. But if the room is dark, you simply won’t find what you’re looking for. This is well-illustrated in the passage below:

Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?

Luke 15:8 NIV (emphasis added)

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
Psalms 119:105 NIV (emphasis added)

The Word of God directs us so that we don’t have to struggle in the dark.

The more I mature in my Christian walk, the more I realize that God’s ways are simple, but they aren’t easy. When we stop investing time in the Word of God, things can quickly get confusing and we lose our sense of direction.

When in a season of spiritual obscurity, it is encouraging to remember that we aren’t looking for an inanimate object that lays stationary in a secluded spot.

Rather, the One you seek is seeking for you too.

Think of a young boy who let go of his mother’s hand in a crowd. You can be sure that his mother isn’t seated comfortably waiting for her child to find her. She will be searching frantically. Calling out. Sending people. She will be asking anyone and everyone to help her find her lost child. As the child searches for his mother, his mother searches for him.

Indeed, the most reassuring truth that I’ve learnt in my season of searching is the fact that God desires to find me just as much as I desire to find Him.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord
Jeremiah 29:13‭-‬14 NIV

Found.

-RR🌸