Have you ever tried to scoop water back into a cup after it has spilled?
Have you ever enjoyed your day at work only to go home with a pink slip?
Have you ever traveled to the border and realized the passport was lost?
Have you ever been scheduled for a simple procedure to retain your health only to have complications that left you with a loss of health?
Have you ever experienced a privilege from your parents only to lose it after poor choices?
Have you ever worked hard to save money for a special purchase only to have the money come up missing?
Have you ever packed for a vacation, or even a trip to the grocery store, only to realize the car keys were lost, leaving you stuck?
Loss. It belongs to the human experience. When King Solomon’s Ecclesiastes allows us a glimpse into his meandering thoughts. In almost poetic fashion, Ecclesiastes begins a discourse on the time of everything. From verse one, there is a time to be born and a time to die, through verse eight, there is a time for war and a time for peace. King Solomon grants us the opportunity to glance into the true experience of life. It will not all be good; it will not all be bad. It will not all be success; it will not all be failure. It will not all be seeking; it will not all be a time of loss. Yet, there is loss and as much as we try to avoid its discomfort, it truly is as much the human experience as gain. Loss can be recovered, but it always seems to leave its mark, doesn’t it?
You can use the palm of your hand and scrape water back into the cup, but you will have much less liquid with which to refresh yourself…and it will not be as clean either!
You can find another job, but you may earn a lower wage and most likely, lose seniority…while building new partnerships with your peers.
You can get another passport, but it will cost you time and money, not to mention your reservations will be gone.
You can regain your health through medicine, rehabilitation, surgeries, and time, but your body may lose the youthful strength or coordination it once possessed.
You can recoup the trust of your parents and earn the privileges back, but you may have to deal with moments of interrogation due to the loss of your integrity.
You can set additional savings goals, but your plans will have to be adjusted due to the lost purchase deadline.
You can find your car keys but not after the loss of your patience in the struggle to maintain your sanity in the process of looking.
There is only one recovery of loss that is returned greater, better, more perfect than when lost! There is one recovery that leaves no deficits or marks in the process of being found. In fact, it is the power of the lostness that leads us to the best moments of being found. In fact, being lost is just what is needed in order to live more whole, rewarded, and well-adjusted and more inline with the purpose of your life experience. In fact, it promotes you forward so that you gain royalty within the story of the loss.
That one recovery of loss, my friends, is YOU and me! “For if you choose self-sacrifice and lose your lives for my glory, you will continually discover true life. But if you choose to keep your lives for yourselves, you will forfeit what you try to keep.” Matthew 16:25 The Passion Translation
An anomaly of young adulthood is the journey to finding oneself. This desire of self-discovery is not limited to young adults, either. According to the Christian Post, an estimated 300 to 330 million “spiritual tourists” visit significant religious sites every year, such as the Jesus Trail or the Wailing Wall in Israel. (Menzie, 2014) No matter how hard you seek after God, you are not the hound of heaven. Jesus is. “He is a divine lover mercilessly stalking a human subject”. Poet Francis Thompson reflects that God graciously pursued him, as it were, as the Hound of Heaven. We respond to God’s love because he loves us first. He seeks us first. He gave his life first. He came to us first.
In the city of Jericho there lived a very wealthy man named Zacchaeus, who was the supervisor over all the tax collectors. As Jesus made his way through the city, Zacchaeus was eager to see Jesus. He kept trying to get a look at him, but the crowd around Jesus was massive.
Zacchaeus was a very short man and could not see over the heads of the people. So, he ran on ahead of everyone and climbed up a blossoming fig tree so he could get a glimpse of Jesus as he passed by.
When Jesus got to that place, he looked up into the tree and said, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry on down, for I am appointed to stay at your house today!’ So, he scurried down the tree and came face-to-face with Jesus.
As Jesus left to go with Zacchaeus, many in the crowd complained, ‘Look at this! Of all the people to have dinner with, he’s going to eat in the house of a crook.’
Zacchaeus joyously welcomed Jesus and was amazed over his gracious visit to his home. Zacchaeus stood in front of the Lord and said, ‘Half of all that I own I will give to the poor. And Lord, if I have cheated anyone, I promise to pay back four time as much as I stole.’
Jesus said to him, ‘This shows that today life has come to you and your household, for you are a true son of Abraham. The Son of Man has come to seek out and to give life to those who are lost.’
Luke 19:1-10 The Passion Translation
So, my friends, if you feel lost today! You are in a good place. Do not be daunted by the lack of a roadmap into a clearly directed future. Do not succumb to the fear of walking your journey based on what you do not see or understand. God’s Truth says that when we are followers of Jesus, we are not lost but found. We are not like people walking around in a project of self-discovery. We walk around like God-discovering people as we read God’s Word, practice talking to Him and hearing from Him in moments of prayer or journaling or spending time learning from the lives of other Jesus followers.
Matthew 18:11-14 “The Son of Man has come to give life to anyone who is lost. Think of it this way: If a man owns a hundred sheep and one lamb wanders away and is lost, won’t he leave the ninety-nine grazing on the hillside and go out and thoroughly search for the one lost lamb? And if he finds his lost lamb, he rejoices over it, more than over the ninety-nine who are safe. Now you should understand that it is never the desire of your heavenly Father that one of these humble believers should be lost.” Matthew 18:11-14 The Passion Translation
Burton, R. (2010, February 11). Richard Burton reads the haunting poem “The hound of Heaven” by Francis Thompson. Retrieved July 9, 2020, from YouTube website:
English, J. (2011, June 23). JESUS, (English), Jesus and Zacchaeus. Retrieved July 9, 2020, from YouTube website: https://youtu.be/R59GTcEnR2U
Menzie, N. (2014, December 14). Why Do Millions of People Go on Pilgrimage Every Year? Retrieved July 9, 2020, from www.christianpost.com website: https://www.christianpost.com/news/why-do-millions-of-people-go-on-pilgrimage-every- year.html
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