Can God find me when I feel lost?

Maybe you don’t feel the gentle tug of God’s hand over your life anymore. Like a kite carried by the wind, somewhere along the line, you feel that you were snapped off God’s hands. You feel aimless, just drifting further into the unknown. Spinning and nose-diving deeper into darkness, you have lost your way. You don’t have peace.

You circle the same place over and over again; the same hurts and same disappointments, they are just packaged differently with different names and different faces. The cycle of hurt is on continuous repeat.

You don’t have control. More and more of you is being torn away. You have lost parts of you that you know you can never find again. The sight of God has grown dimmer. You are lost.

Isaiah 53:6 New International versions (NIV) says: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Whether it’s unforgiveness, drug abuse, hate or whatever loss you are experiencing today that has pushed and pulled you away from God, we all have gone astray sometime in our lives. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23 NIV).

The principles of the Bible make it very clear: Jesus was sent to save the lost. We all have lost our way, but Jesus has taken the sufferings of all mankind upon Himself when He died on the cross for us. So can God find me when I am lost? Yes. If His sole purpose was to save the lost, then I am sure He knows the way to finding us all.  

Throughout the Bible, Jesus is seen as the Shepherd, leading His sheep into green pastures. Jesus, however, becomes the lamb. The Shepherd becomes the sheep, and He is sacrificed through crucifixion. Isaiah 53:7 (NIV) says: “…he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” He becomes sin and takes on the suffering that was originally intended for mankind upon Himself.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV) says: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

When you mediate on these words, “so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” you realise that God has taken it all upon Himself in the first place. Sin, brokenness, suffering and pain, Jesus took it all. All we need to do is confess our sin to God and he will deliver us.

Romans 3:23 New Kings James Version ( NKJV): “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

When we are saved by Jesus He writes our name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Revelations 21:27 (NIV): “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Take a look at how God finds the lost:

 1. He would leave 99 behind to search for you.

Matthew 18:11-14 ( NKJV) says:

^“11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.¹² What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? ¹³ And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. ¹⁴ Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

In this parable, Jesus explains how he would leave 99 of his sheep in an open country to go out and look for one. Each one is precious, but Jesus shows a considerable amount of passion for just the lost one. There may be many reasons why the one may have wandered off, perhaps lured away to a place where the grass seemed greener.

Maybe it’s guilt, shame or even sin that drives us away from God. These can lead us down treacherous paths.

Be encouraged knowing that He will pursue you and He will find you.

2. God will climb the mountain to find you.

Sounds romantic doesn’t it? Jesus, the Good Shepherd (Matthew18:12) will climb the mountains to find His lost. The nature of sheep is to follow the shepherd. But in this scene, we see that the shepherd follows the path of the lost sheep. This is symbolic of God becoming man, understanding the ways of man to take on man’s sins.

Philippians 2:5-8 says: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; ⁷ rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-even death on a cross!”

He will go down your dreary road if it means he will find you there.

CALL ON HIM

He will go down your dreary road if it means he will find you there. There is no place too dark, deep or high where God cannot find and rescue you. Call on the name of the Lord and be saved (Acts 2:21).

LISTEN FOR HIS VOICE

John 10:4(NIV) “…his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”  

NO PLACE TOO DIFFICULT

You feel lost in the darkest sea? God will find you. Does your life seem like you are sleeping in Hell? God will find you there, too. Hold Psalms 139 close to your heart and be encouraged as you read further.

Psalms 139: 7-12 (NKJV)

“Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
⁸ If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’
Even the night shall be light about me;
¹² Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.”

Let Him lead you; let His right hand hold you. His rod and His staff will comfort you. (Psalms 23:4)

3. A lamp will be lit and the house will be cleaned to find you.

In Luke 15:8-10, we read of the Parable of the Lost Coin: ^“8 ‘Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents’.”

This parable is so profound. Turn on the lights please, I have lost something precious! We turn the house inside out to find it. The panic. The worry. We do not rest until it is found.

Turn on the lights. Let Jesus be the light in your darkness.

Let’s clean house. Invite Jesus in to dwell within you.

Matthew 12:44-45

⁴³ “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

4. He will joyfully carry you on his shoulder when he does find you.

This is surely an ahhhh moment. This moment of compassion between a shepherd and his sheep is triumphant. Can imagine the smile on the shepherd’s face when he finds his lost sheep? He scoops the “little one” off his feet and drapes him around his shoulder. This is His prize, His trophy. The moment of victory.

Now that He has found you, He decides to carry you through the journey.  On His shoulders you will stay. You are His prize! His find!

Isaiah 40:11: “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”

5.  He rejoices and celebrates when He finds you.

Matthew 18:13 says: “…he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.”

Let God celebrate you. Let’s give Him His moment to rejoice over you.

In Luke chapter 15, we read of the parable of the lost son. A man had two sons. The younger son requested for his inheritance and he left his father’s house to live in a far-off country.  He squandered all his wealth on worldly pleasures. Soon after, there was a famine that hit the entire country. He began to starve and out of desperation he ate the food that was meant for pigs. He wished he could be one of the servants in his father’s house.

When he came to his senses, he returned home to his father. Luke 15:20-24 explains, “²⁰ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹ The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found’. So they began to celebrate.”

Notice that the father did not ask the son, why did you go off? You expect me to take you back? You spent all my money! Instead, he adorned him with fine clothing, put a ring on his finger and they had a feast. He makes all things new. Put on the garments praise.

The father forgives and He forgets. The past is forgotten.

Jesus forgives our past sins and bears no revenge. 1 John 1:9 (NIV) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

6. The whole of Heaven rejoices.

 ^“7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:7 (NIV)

¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10

You are not in this alone. You have cheerleaders in Heaven rooting for you. All of God’s angels and saints applaud you. Can you picture the scene in Heaven? Shouts of, “Come on, you got this! Don’t lose hope. Help is on the horizon. Listen for His voice, He is calling you. Jesus is looking for you!” What a spectacular moment when ‘Team Heaven’ wins. Three cheers for the once lost but now found!

Let us pray together.

Lord Jesus, I invite you into my life today. I know that you seek after me when I am lost. Come into my life today. Write my name in the Lamb’s book of life. Cleanse me from all of my sin. You became sin so that I could have eternal life. You sacrificed yourself as the lamb on the alter. My sins are washed by your blood and I am forgiven. I am free and found in Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen.