Last summer, my family spent the most popular day of the 12 months at an amusement park. When we stopped to refill our water bottles, we by some means lost certainly one of my sons in the gang. It probably wasn’t for much longer than a minute or so. But as soon as we realized he was missing, my husband and I grabbed our two other boys and ran, panicked, seeking him.
We turned a corner, and there he was, our precious little seven-year-old, standing in the midst of the concrete pathway, sobbing. We sprinted towards him and enveloped him in our arms. We spent several long moments holding him and comforting him. “We didn’t abandon you. We didn’t forget you. We’re here. We’re with you. We love you. You are back within the arms of mommy and daddy. It’s okay, baby. You are found.”
There are days in life once we lose our way; once we feel lost, afraid, removed from our family, removed from God. We stand in the midst of our path and develop into stuck and scared because we don’t know what to do next. We don’t know how you can move forward. We can’t seem to seek out our way home.
A couple of years ago, I used to be that scared child trying to seek out my way home. At the time, I had been hospitalized and subsequently diagnosed with a painful autoimmune disease. I spent the subsequent 12 months feeling physically, emotionally, and spiritually drained. It was my 12 months of lament; a 12 months asking God Why?; a 12 months feeling lost and afraid.
During that difficult season, I often thought that if I could just learn whatever lesson God was attempting to teach me, then I could wrap up my hardship up in a reasonably little package, send it on its way, and graduate to the subsequent stage of my spiritual growth and development. But as time goes on, I’m starting to understand that our seasons of loss and lament will not be about learning lessons; they’re about experiencing greater measures of God’s love. Our pain is an invite deeper into the presence of God.
In the Old Testament book of 1 Kings, there’s a story about King Solomon, who, having built the temple, asked God—though infinite in nature—to reside throughout the constructing’s 4 partitions. Later, God appeared to Solomon in a vision and answered his request: “I actually have heard the prayer and plea you’ve gotten made before me; and so, I actually have consecrated this temple which you’ve gotten built, by putting my Name there perpetually. My eyes and my heart will at all times be there (1 Kings 9:3).”
When we come to faith in Jesus, his ineffable Holy Spirit takes us residence in our finite beings. He transforms our frail and failing bodies into living, vibrant temples. In fact, the Old Testament calls the Holy Spirit Ruach, the wind of God or the breath of God. In Genesis, we read of God respiratory into the nostrils of Adam and filling him together with his Spirit. Similarly, within the New Testament, Jesus breathed onto his disciples and filled them with the Spirit’s presence as well (John 20).
This, to me, is probably the most incredible claims of the Christian faith: God breathes his own life into us.
And due to the Spirit’s life inside us, the reality of 1 Kings is true for us as well—when you’re a follower of Jesus, God’s name is engraved on you. God’s eyes at all times are focused on you. God’s heart is in you and with you perpetually.
No matter how lost you’re feeling, irrespective of how much pain you’re in, even when God’s presence truly seems absent—in your darkest hours, you’re never alone, never abandoned, never forgotten.
Friend, when you’ve lost your way, when you’re suffering, or when you’re just off your path for some reason or season, remember this:
- You are known by God.
- You are named by God.
- You are seen by God.
- You are loved by God.
- You belong to God.
- You have the very breath and wind of God within you.
- Always.
When things look so blurry that you could’t find your way home, don’t hand over. Stay faithful to Jesus. God’s Spirit will take your spirit by the hand and lead you back—time and time again—into the arms of your loving Daddy. He will breathe life back into you.
It’s okay, baby. You are found.
Photo Credit: © Unsplash/Daniel Jensen
LISTEN: How to Have “Inexpressible Joy” Even While You’re Suffering
1 Peter is a book of the Bible all about enduring suffering and trials, and even finding joy within the midst of them. This joy is intriguing since it’s mentioned within the context of suffering and trials, difficult us to grasp how we are able to experience such profound joy amidst difficulties. Let’s dive into 1 Peter with Nicole Unice, host of the How to Study the Bible podcast, and learn how you can clutch inexpressible joy, irrespective of what you are facing.
The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the speakers and don’t necessarily reflect the views or positions of Salem Web Network and Salem Media Group.
Video stock video and music probided by SoundStripe
