There once was a man who lost his paycheck. Money was tight and they lived hand to mouth. He was frantic and tearing everything in his house apart. This went on for some time and finally his wife saw his dilemma and decided to help. She asked her husband what he had lost and he explained that it was his paycheck. The man’s wife then inquired where he was and what he was doing when he lost it. He mentioned he had worked late into the evening and that he had lost it on the short walk home. His wife then asked if he had lost it on the way home then why was he searching in the house. The man then looked at his wife as though she was a brick short of a full load and said I am looking here because there’s much more light in the horse than there is outside in the dark. duh!
I can really relate to having lost something valuable and the panic that comes when you cannot find it. Actually the older I get this happens more often. I do remember one time in particular that this happened and how overwhelmed I was with panic as I searched desperately to find what I had lost. It was the week before Easter and our college was closing for spring break. I had arranged time off from my part time job and was looking forward to flying back home to be with friends and family. That morning as I waited for the van to take a group of us students to the airport. I checked and double checked to make sure everything was packed and ready to go. I did not want to miss the van or my flight. I had placed my plane ticket in my suit coat pocket and every now and then as I prepared to leave I would pat it to make sure it was still there. We had all loaded into the van and before we left our van driver reminded us all that before he pulled out to check to make sure we had our tickets. I almost did not check because I was so certain it was there. However when I checked this one last time it was gone. I had this terrible feeling in my stomach. The van driver said he would give me 5 minutes to run and find it. I ran back to my room, I was certain it must have fallen out of my pocket while I was packing. I tore everything apart. I looked under the bed, I tore apart my suitcase. It was gone. With sadness I watched as the van as it pulled away. I had spent all the money I had to buy that ticket. I called the airport and told them what had happened and they said I could purchase another ticket for another flight but I would have to file the necessary paperwork for a refund and that would take some time to be approved and my money credited. Words cannot express my disappointment. I had so longed to go home. I had just about given up, but one last time I pleaded with God to help me find that ticket. I was walking between the dormitory and chapel and to my left was a highway and on the other side was a large field with scrub grass. I had glanced across the highway and then refocused back on my walk towards the chapel. However something had caught my eye and I looked back. About a hundred yards away there was one weed that was taller than all the others and caught on the top of it was something that was blowing in the wind. I thought at first to just keep walking on but then said to myself what else I have to do and decided to check this sight out. It was when I got near that my heart skipped for it looked like my plane ticket. It was barely hanging on to this dead weed and I quickly grasped it. It had been hanging on all this time waiting for me to find it. I laughed and said thank you God you’re amazing. All this time I had been looking in the wrong place. I contacted the airline and the man I talked to, I believe is the same one I had talked to earlier, mentioned that if I would return the ticket they would mail me a refund. I think this gentleman had a burst of compassion and mentioned you know what you bring that ticket with you and I will make sure you get on the next flight out. He made an exception in the rules so that I could make it home. I had tears rolling down my face. I was so amazed at how God had turned a tragedy into a learning experience. Some lessons are not learned in the pages of a book. Sometimes the experiences of life reveal the awesomeness of God in ways you could not imagine.
Take for instance Mary Magdalene as she ran to the tomb of Jesus she was looking for a corpse, she was chasing memories and hopes that had crashed amidst the agony and suffering of the cross. She was looking for the right thing in the wrong place. It was just natural that he would be in the tomb that is where His body was placed when we lost HIm.
John 20 New International Version
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.
6Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
10Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.11Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”
When she turned away from the past and looked towards the future she heard her name and there standing right in front of her was the one she had thought she had lost. He called her name again and when she looked into His face she realized that He had been there all the time. She was just looking in the wrong place for He was no longer dead and had no need of a tomb.
What is it you have lost? Have you lost your joy, have you lost your way. Have you lost your purpose? Maybe you’re looking for it in the wrong place. It may be right behind you. Maybe it’s time to refocus your attention. Maybe at the beginning of this New Year you will find a dimension in God that you have been seeking for a long time.
Maybe you are doing what is the most convenient to do and your search is only frustrating you for your not looking in the last place you were when you lost your vision.
The most important thing you can do is look away from what you expect and look to areas where you find the unexpected.
A miracle by definition Miracle definition, an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural .
Look at the disciples on the road to Emmaus.
Luke 24 New International Version
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”19 “What things?” he asked.“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
They realized after the fact the one they were grieving for was right in front of them. They had felt His words burning in their heart but their eyes could not see Him for they were grieving a crucified savior not looking for a resurrected one.
This year make it a point to focus your search. Focus on God’s Word for he can be found in its pages. Look for Him in prayer for He is nigh to all that call on Him. Most likely He has been by your side all this time waiting for you to turn and around and see that He is calling your name. You will find that the search is not as difficult as you have made it in the past, for he actually wants you to seek Him so that He can reveal Himself to you in a divine and awesome way.