Month: July 2021

Have you ever lost something valuable on a ride before?

We’ve all been there at some point – you’re blissfully enjoying a peaceful ride while out in public somewhere, maybe on a bus, boat, or train, and you get so caught up in the ride itself, that by the time you get off, you completely forget something important behind. The after effects of feeling relaxed take a few minutes to wear off, and you realize too late that something very important is missing. Your first instinct is to contact the company responsible for the vehicle, inquiring about your missing item. They have an employee search the vehicle for you, but inform you that it’s nowhere to be found, suggesting that perhaps it fell out during the ride at some point. Unfortunately in some cases, the company has a zero liability policy, and if they can’t find your possessions, your valuable object is gone forever, never to be seen again. You wish more than anything that you could get it back, but this particular object is already lost beyond all hope. People will tell you to just replace it, but it was more than just an object to you; perhaps it had some sort of special meaning and sentimental value for you.

You start to blame yourself, thinking that if you had just asked the driver or conductor to stop or turn around sooner, you might have been able to save it. However, contemplating the hypothetical circumstances proves to be futile, as nothing can be done at that point. You feel sad about the loss of your valuable possession, but have to accept that it’s gone no matter what.

Perhaps you feel like God has forgotten you, leaving you behind just like the scenario described above.

There may be opportunities, circumstances, goals, and many other things that you clung to with all your heart, trying your best to keep them safe everywhere you went. However, you may feel as though these things have been taken, lost, or broken due to forces outside your control. You may quite literally feel left hanging, wondering what in the world is going to happen to you next. You sigh and pass the time as best as you can, but constantly wonder when God is going to “come back for you” and pick you up again. The waiting feels endless, and you grow more and more anxious with each passing day. You start to believe that you’ll remain in this forgotten place forever, in spite of what you’ve been told or taught about God’s goodness all your life.

Even though life has no “round trip” ticket, you can rest assured that God has not missed you on any of His “stops.”

Just when you feel like abandoning all hope about the lost things that were important to you, God has a way of reminding you that He still cares, regardless of how it might appear to you. Maybe you decided to leave the important thing behind you already, quite literally leaving it in God’s hands. Time passes, and you happen to be going about your day, when news reaches you about this thing that you had previously signed off as long gone. No matter what the context of your circumstances is, God might show you later on how He was guiding you along the right path the whole time, sparing you from hidden dangers, or redirecting your course. He lovingly and gently acknowledges your situation, while reassuring you that He has you exactly where you need to be. God is faithful to remember you in all the details of your life, because what is important to your life situation is always important to Him. God knows that everything close to you has meaning, and even if something feels lost forever, He is there to remind you that He will never leave you nor forsake you.

– Gloria D. Hopkins