I Once was Lost, But Now I’m Found

Have you ever had that moment when you realize you lost something really, really important? Well that happened to me last week. I lost the one thing, the one thing, that I should never, ever lose. It’s this key, you see, this really important key. The one key I have that doesn’t have a spare. This key opens up a filing cabinet that is in my office here in Tanzania. In this filing cabinet are many important things such as: all the cash for our center, the keys to all the other filing cabinets, my wallet with my money and my driver’s license, and just about everything else I need to do my job as the FBA here!! So, I lost this important little key that has no spare and unlocks the most important lock in my life. Or so, this is how I felt after realizing that I had lost this little key.

The filing cabinet that contains my life!

It’s times like these when I’m praying and everyone around me is praying and I’m searching and everyone around me is searching, but I’m not finding and they’re not finding, that I start to doubt whether I will ever get this little key back. I wish I could say I had the unwavering faith and hope that missionaries are “supposed to have.” But, I started to doubt whether God was listening, whether He cared about this little key that is so seemingly important to me, or whether He was trying to teach me some lesson that I would have much rather learned another time, without the stress of losing something. But despite all these creeping doubts, I kept praying and I kept searching because that is what He says to do. In Matthew 7:7, Jesus says, “Keep on asking, and you will receive. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.”

And let me just say, this persistence is hard stuff, especially when it would be soooo much easier (and faster) to just break the lock. But, I had to weigh the options of breaking it and receiving instant gratification versus not being able to lock up all those precious items like cash and keys again because no stores in Arusha (to my knowledge) sell replacement locks for filing cabinets!!   

Missionary Lock Pick Set:
We did try picking the lock, though! But, regardless of how easy the YouTube videos say it is,
 read these words: IT IS NOT EASY AT ALL! Believe me. We tried. For hours. And hours.

But then it happened, as we began the organized search, God answered our prayers! WE FOUND THE KEY! Actually, it was so neat the way God used one of the kids on our center, Caeden Limiero, who had be praying big prayers, to spot the key under a clump of grass. The joy, excitement, and relief I felt at that moment was incredible.  

Caeden and I posing together after I hugged and kissed him 100 times!
See the background there? That is our corn field and we are standing in a
patch of grass, sticks, and leaves...  See the key in my hand? Not really.
Yeah, look closer. It is tiny, and this little guy found it!

To sum it all up, we serve an awesome God who cares about lost keys, but more importantly He cares so deeply about lost people. Luke 15 contains three parables of things that are lost – a sheep, a coin, and a son. In all three, the finder rejoices with such excitement that he calls friends and neighbors to share in his joy. Scripture tells of the celebration in heaven when one lost sinner repents and turns to God. Like the words of Amazing Grace, 'I once was lost but now am found!' (And now, so is my key!)