Recovering Stolen Property.

Lost and found. Easy come, easy go.

Here today, gone tomorrow.

Enjoy it while you have it.

Phrases that speak to the loss of things often seem to easily blow off the matter of how we feel. There’s a common thread to just “next” our emptiness, and find something else to fill us.

Losses like keys, important documents, appointment cards etc, are on the lower level of loss,… but when things escalate to losses like cell phones, wallets, purses, backpacks, attaché cases( no one knows what that means anymore),.. these losses mean even more.

Now, add the loss of career, vehicle, character, family, good health, close friends, reputation,… what’s left over? Where do you find yourself, when everything seemingly has disappeared? You search over and over again, everywhere and in everything. You look high and low, near and far. You are told to search deep within yourself. You are encouraged to go find yourself in nature. You read that some have taken a trip far away. Serve in a foreign land. Reach out to others less fortunate….. fortunate….

“Less fortunate? Who could be less fortunate than me right now? Doesn’t anyone understand what I am going through? Where is everybody? Wasn’t I there for them? It’s my turn now. They seemed to have bounced back after our time together, why haven’t I? Where’s my ‘somebody’?”

The search continues for a while, until you get some traction. You decide, resolve, come to grips with, or whatever one does when you,…. surrender to the truth.

You search the web for “people who have lost everything”, or, “people who have lost seemingly everything and have bounced back and are doing great now even though its been really tough”…. no results found.

Your sleep patterns are abnormal. Your diet has turned to chips and soda, and junk food. As the gas gauge goes down, the amount of white paper bags on the floor of your car goes up. You begin to recognize the voice of the person taking your order at the drive through, and answer them by name when they ‘will that be all?’.

Your feelings drift towards words like: loss, emptiness, shattered, stolen….. theft!

Theft! That’s what it is. Theft! That’s what’s happened to me! I’ve been robbed!!!

There’s no place to file a report. No neighborhood watch program to alert others about. No 9-1-1 call can be made. When it comes down to what happens in life, there may not always be easy answers, or they may not be easily found. Rather, time, tenacity, hope, and prayer are what takes us out of the doldrums of the things we face, and into a new place. The reality that you are going to do more than just recover the stolen property, but that you are going to grow and mature and guard yourself better, next time.

Recovery of lost things is what Jesus was all about. In a nutshell, His mission is to seek and save the lost. He is the saving grace in the world of lost things, broken things, broken dreams, loneliness, and emptiness. He is the only One ever offering full restoration, in due season. He is about Recovering Stolen Property!