CLINT PERCEFULL, CHILDREN'S MINISTER
Have you ever placed something in a “special place” so you won’t forget where you put it? Or have you ever seen something in a weird place and thought it was strange and then later couldn’t remember where you saw it? I’ll be the first to admit that my memory is one of the worst on the planet. I can forget where I put something I had in my hands not 5 minutes before. My wife has to help me look for things constantly, and more often than not she finds them. Well, the other day I got the opportunity to be on the finding end of something she had misplaced.
Jaclyn’s grandma had given her something very special and she wanted to keep it safe. Some time went by and she decided she wanted to find this special item. She looked in all the normal places and could not find it anywhere. She began to look in some really odd places and still couldn’t find it. We wondered if one of the little wild banshees we live with took it and placed it somewhere else. Maybe it had fallen behind the dresser drawer or got lumped in with other items of less significance? We couldn’t find it anywhere and Jaclyn was starting to get upset that she had lost it. I had one last off the wall idea of where it could be…in the emergency bag, a bag we have packed with essentials just in case we need to leave the house in a very quick manner. Sure enough there it was!
I am reminded of Matthew 7:7-8 where Jesus states “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Ask, seek, and knock are all very easy actions to take. However, oftentimes we give up too easily. Jeremiah 29:13 states “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
As one who loses stuff often, seeking gets tiresome. However, I was reminded during this search that seeking God is something we should never lose sight of. This is not a simple quick overview search, but one we should continually be on, giving it everything we have, and God may show up in some unexpected places.