ARLost and FoundIf we are truly willing to return to God, He will run to us, throw His loving arms around us, and take care of us. His anger is for a moment, but His mercy is for a lifetime.God Himself promised to search for the lost sheep of Israel and bring back the strays, bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. He is a God who loves, and whose anger is superceded by His love for us. He loves us so much that He left His glory two thousand years ago, came to earth, and gave His life for us so that we'd have the chance to return to Him. His anger lasts for but a moment, His mercy is for a lifetime.
I will
search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the
injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will
destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. (Eze 34:16, NIV)
A few years
ago, I was taking care of a dog for a friend of mine. She was a cute dog,
and I loved her to pieces, but she liked to run. I was staying at my
friend’s house, and one day I came back to find a hole in the fence. The
dog was gone.
You'd think I
would have gotten angry at the dog, but any anger I had was overshadowed
by my fear. Now this dog wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. I was
afraid that she might have run into traffic, or that she was wandering
lost and afraid, hungry and thirsty. Maybe the dog was in the pound, and
would be gassed.
Well, I
walked all over the place looking for her. I knocked on people's doors,
and I walked for miles and miles calling her name. There was no response.
I called the animal control people. They hadn't found her, but they said
they'd call me in the morning if they did. I stayed up until 3 a.m.,
walking around the neighborhood with my flashlight. Someone else had
posted a sign of another lost dog. The sign was a month old, and it was
fairly clear that if the dog hadn’t been found by this point, then it
probably never would be.
In the
morning, I got a call from the animal control people. Someone had called
in to say that he'd found the dog, and had kept her in his house
overnight.
I ran over to
this person's house. He had her on a leash, and when she saw me her tail
started wagging wildly. I called her name and she came running to me.
I had a
strange mix of emotions at that moment. I was angry at the dog for running
away, and I did scold her with a few words. But I couldn't stay angry for
very long. It was just such a relief to see her back, and safe. So I gave
her a big long hug, and by the looks of her wildly wagging tail, she
seemed genuinely relieved to see me again too.
All the Bible
stories and parables about the lost share a common theme. God Himself
promised to search for the lost sheep of Israel and bring back the strays,
bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. The father of the prodigal
son saw his returning son in the distance. This means that every day, as
his son was wandering, the father was standing and looking off in the
distance, waiting for him to return.
In the
parables of the lost coin and the lost sheep, the return of the lost thing
was greeted with joy and celebration. God is not a God who only punishes.
He is a God who loves, and whose anger is superceded by His love for us—so
much so that He left His glory two thousand years ago, came to earth, and
gave His life for us so that we’d have the chance to return to Him.
All of this
points to one thing: if we are truly willing to return to God, He will run
to us, throw His loving arms around us, and take care of us. His anger is
for a moment, but His mercy is for a lifetime.