Lost & Found

Psalm 36, 5-8, from The Message:

God’s Love is METEORIC,
His Loyalty is ASTRONOMIC,
His Purposes are TITANIC,
His Verdicts are OCEANIC;
Yet, in His Large-ness NOTHING GETS LOST;
Not a man, not even a mouse, Nothing slips through the cracks.

Ever misplace stuff?

Ever loose a brand new roll of stamps, one sock from a favorite pair, a key chain full of jingly keys, a vitally-important document, or your cell phone (ever lost your phone more than once in the same week?) Me too, last week as a matter of fact.

Ever do something really dumb like put the milk in the pantry and then wonder if its your mind you may have lost?

Ever say to yourself, I better put that in a safe place? That's a troublesome one for me. Whenever I assign an extra-special place for something, then, I pretty much know I'll never see it again ... unless of course I come across it while searching for some other lost thing.

I grew up in an Irish Catholic home where different Saints were assigned to specific jobs. St. Anthony was frequently summonsed to our house. He was the "finder of things" and we had that poor patron saint working overtime, 24/7. There was even a little song that you sang as you rooted through drawers and turned the house upside down in a frenzy. It was meant to calm you down and help you to remember that God is in control of all things, it went like this:
Dear St. Anthony,
Please come around,
There's something that's lost and cannot be found!
You know where it is, won't you show it to me now?

It usually began as a happy little sing-songy ditty, that eventually escalated into an angry dirge as you began to imagine all of heaven staring at the lost object but not showing it to you!

What if YOU were in charge of everything in the universe?
What if YOU had to keep it all properly filed and under control?
What if YOUR task list included "seeking and saving lost people?"
How would YOU do with that one, day in day out? Yiikes.

Now that I've been found, I find that I don't always have a lot of patience and perseverance for "the lost." I tend to forget that I was once a wretch too, till Jesus found me. God you are so good, so infinitely long-suffering, H-E-L-P us Lord, only YOU are perfect.
Re-mind us that we are ALL lost without You, Jesus.
Even in Your Large-ness, Nothing gets lost.

Help, Ya Know I Need Somebody!

When Jesus rose, He FIRST appeared to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had driven seven demons. Mark 16:9

Mary Magdelene was an eye-witness, to the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Jesus invited a woman, a former prostitute, an outcast plagued by demons, into His inner earthly circle.

Can you imagine what Mary's life was like before Jesus came to town?
Can you imagine Him choosing her to be one of His closest followers?
Can you imagine how upsetting seeing her with Him, must have been to the Right-wing Politicos? How utterly scandalous!

No doubt, Mary Magdalene had been used and abused her whole life; tossed to the side, discarded, unimportant. Then, miraculously, Someone, The Savior, heard and responded to her lifesong:

Help, Ya know I need somebody,
Help, not just ANYBODY!!! Help, Ya know I need someone, H-E-L-P!
When I was younger, so much younger than today, I never needed anybody's help in any way. But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured, Now I find I've changed my mind and I've opened up the door. H-E-L-P!

Our prayers don't need to be fancy. We don't need to sing well or write a #1 hit to catch His attention. Jesus responds to an open door and a humble call for H-E-L-P!
Imagine the gratitude Mary must have felt after being freed! She must have hung on her Savior's every Word, watching, waiting, wondering what He would do next. Letting Him lead the way, trusting Him to know what's best and resting in that. How amazing it must have been for Mary Magdalene to walk around with Jesus as He helped people.

~ Do you think she observed how His Eyes truly saw the over-looked?
~ Do you think she observed how His Ears heard the cries of children?
~ Do you think she observed how His Touch healed the un-touchables?
~ Do you think she observed how His Words lifted the weak and lowly;
and upset the high & mighty?

Now think about this... Jesus has given us EVEN MORE than the gift of observing Him.
Yes, we have a record of His earthly actions in The 4 Gospels and it is wonderful to be able to read about Him there... but He left us even more....
He sent The Holy Spirit to come and live inside of us! When we cry out for H-E-L-P and admit our need for a Savior, He comes to the open door of our hearts and sets us free.

No longer just around us, God wants to get closer, through the power of His Holy Spirit He loves us from the inside, out. And, That is amazing love!

He is so vast; yet, so intimate. He keeps everything in the universe in motion... from black holes in distant galaxies ... to black holes in human hearts ... only His Perfect Love fills the void. Help us Lord, the Somebody we all need is YOU, Jesus.