Lost and Found

This past weekend our Dog Coco ran off. Diane and I are up at our cabin in northern Wisconsin and we had gone into town for some errands and the dog was with us in the car. Well, when we pulled up to the cabin the dog must have seen a deer in the woods because right when I opened the car door -- bam he was off running into the woods.

We were not too concerned because we do let him run off in the woods, though recently he had been roaming a bit too much. So after bringing in our groceries and seeing the dog was still gone I began to call and whistle for him which normally would bring him back. So we expanded the search but he was nowhere to be found.

We searched for him until nightfall with no success in finding him, the next morning I went into the woods and swamp searching for him but again we could not find him. We took the car and went along the roads around the lake and the surrounding area and again no success.

Well, you dog lovers and dog owners know what type of pain my wife and I were in. The night Coco was missing I was up all night with the outdoor lights on and calling out for him in the darkness just hoping to see his face at the patio door. During the next day Diane was in tears most of the day and I will admit I shed some myself as I thought about the suffering he may be subjected to or worse if a wild animal got him for dinner.

Well, long story short through the help of Joe a friend of ours who we have been witnessing Christ to, who wanted in some way to help our broken heartedness so Joe called the radio stations who put out an alert and 4 hours later we had Coco back.

Why do I write this, well this episode brought to me some amazing Spiritual insights. Coco is like me in that he was given some freedom of choice and as he expanded his choices he suddenly went running full tilt into danger. How like me and sin, I have free will and sometimes I admit I push the envelope to the point where suddenly I am found running straight into sin. Then like the dog when he suddenly found himself a couple of miles away in unfamiliar surroundings he I am sure was wondering what have I done. Well have you ever felt that way, I know that I have.

Then as I sat in my house as the dog was gone and I was feeling my heart being broken by the loss of our dog and seeing Diane's heart and tears, I was hit by the thought of how God must feel when I sin. That He has that same broken heart over my sin and disobedience. I remembered that as Jesus wept for the people of Jerusalem that He must also weep over us and our sin as well.

When I had those thoughts I then had another broken heart, my heart broke because of the way that I hurt my Lord and my God with my sin, my unbelief or my not trusting His word and ways. That I break my Lord's heart when I do not fully come to him with all my heart, when I am selfish with my day and blessings and do not acknowledge him in ALL things.

I also must say that I did pray for Coco's return and God provided his return to us not through our efforts but He used someone who we have been witnessing too and he used Joe to facilitate Coco being found. That opened up a whole new area of witnessing to Joe that I could speak about God's broken heart over Joe not being a child of His.

I have often told people that one of the reasons I love God so much is because he is a God of detail and that's the type of guy I am.

Well, God used His details to bring Coco back to us and he used His details to use Joe so that I could use this as a furthering tool and relationship that Joe and I can build in the hopes of Joe becoming a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. Praise God!

Coco was lost and then found, I was lost and then found, Joe is lost and we pray that he will be found. What a lesson God gave me and I share this to encourage you and hopefully make you think -- all for the Glory of God.