Lost and Found
While scanning old family photos, my husband found a
newspaper advertisement from our farm days. We grew the largest, juiciest, sweetest strawberries around. Lots of hard work and tasty rewards, but never enough
money. Even though we eventually lost
the farm, we found a new career in
marketing.
Sometimes in life we have to lose something in order to find
something better. We lose our childhood, but find adult independence. We lose
our school days, but find satisfaction in our careers. We can even lose a few friends, before we find the ones that remain.
But sometimes the losses are hard~
A friend’s wife has lost her good health to cancer, but they’ve
found encouragement and prayers coming from friendships built over a lifetime.
Another friend lost his job and wondered how he’d be able to
support his family. Then he volunteered at a clinic for recovering addicts—and within
a few months they hired him. He lost his old job but found a more gratifying purpose
for his life.
Then there was a family that lost everything in a home fire.
But they found all they really needed in a community that provided for them
while they rebuilt.
But the hardest losses? The death of those we love. Is there
anything to be found from a loss like that? Perhaps not right away. But in time
we’ll find memories that bring a smile, the sweet words we recall, and a
promise that God has made:
Now is your time of grief, but I will
see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.
John 16:22
Even though we can’t always predict what we’ll lose in life,
we can find hope in God’s promises. And those are promises we’ll never lose.
