“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”
Matthew 18:12-14
The Lost are Found…
Psalm 13:1–4 ... “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.”
When we wander away from God, we often find ourselves feeling like David when he wrote the words of Psalm 13. Our circumstances overwhelm us and we feel God has abandoned us, forgotten us, even forsaken us, and left us without hope.
In the midst of the Atacama Desert, 33 men were working in the depths of the San Jose mine. It was August 5, 2010, and the mine workers were going about their day as they would on any day, no feelings of foreboding about the catastrophic events that were soon to take place. At 2PM, the miners heard a thunderous roar as the whole mountain began to shake. Some were thrown off their feet as a dense cloud of dust billowed through the caves. After 100 years of mining and blasting, the mine had collapsed trapping 33 men. The emergency phone line, electric, water, everything was cut when the mine collapsed. There only hope is that someone would come to rescue them.
Day after day passed uneventfully as the miners struggled to stretch their meager supply of food and water. As one week passed to two, hunger took hold. The ribs of the miners began to stick out on their emaciated frames and they were losing hope. Then they heard it, the sound of drills in the distance someone was coming to rescue them. A few days later a drill broke through the wall accompanied by a whistle of air. The ordeal was far from over, on day 17 the drill broke through allowing the miners to receive food and water it wasn’t until day 69 when the miners were finally rescued.
Sometimes we feel trapped in our circumstances and wonder if God is going to help, we wonder if he even cares. We feel like God will forget us forever. God has not forgotten you, if you have faith in Jesus Christ then God is coming after you. He knows your name, He knows right where you are, He has a plan for you, and He is coming to find you and He will recue you!
Psalm 13:5–6 ... “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
Pray
Father, when I wander far from you sometimes I feel like you have forgotten me or that you will never come help me. Remind me that in Jesus Christ I am your beloved child. That you will never lose track of me, that no matter how far I wander you will find me and bring me back.
Journal . Meditate … Be Transformed
If you feel distanced from God right now, write down what God has done in scripture to demonstrate that He will come and find you. If you are close to God now, write about a time you wandered and how God brought you back.
Daily Reading
The New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs in a Year
- Matthew 16
The Bible in a Year
- Matthew 16
- Genesis 35-36