Where God Finds You

The Lord says to the lost I will seek you when you can not find your way (Luke 19:10). For those who have been abandoned He makes a home for you (Leviticus 26:11-12). And to those who feel forgotten, dismissed or marginalized the Lord says I will never forget you (Isaiah 49:15-16a).

But do we want the Lord to find us in those hidden and dark places?

After graduating from high school I lacked direction and purpose. It was only a matter of time that I found myself drawn to dark and seedy places. After work I spent many late nights driving through the city streets look for something or someone.

Once I found myself in a rest room of an office building over looking the city. I remember staring at the metal grate covering the window. I felt imprisoned by unspoken desires - some of them I was afraid to confess to the Lord - and the lack of truthfulness locked me out from experiencing His grace.

Beloved, there are places in our heart we retreat for some measure of relieve and comfort. Sometimes we may feel a glimmer of hope stir for a better life. But it's too painful to believe when dreams fade and our hearts break from unfilled promises. Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." (NIV).

Often where God finds us we tend to retreat from His outstretched hands. He is a loving Savior who can walk through the walls built around our heart.

So why do we shut out such great and tender love? We are afraid that if He really sees us - where He finds us - the longing to experience His love may never be ours.

I recall a man in the Bible called Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector for the Roman government. Tax collectors where known for their greed and corruption. And Zacchaeus was a short man so he could not see above the crowd where Jesus was about to passed by so he climbed a tree. It says, "When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." (Luke 19:5, NIV). Imagine. Here he was a despised short greedy Jewish tax collector looking down at the Son of God. Only to see God looking up at him where He found him nestled in the branches.

No matter if you are in a place you should not be or in a bad condition He invites you to come home. Don't retreat back to those places but rather beloved, let Him lead you out!