Camera

We looked and looked for his camera....we had some trees replanted that were lost from the freeze...and had to replace other plants that over the years had left holes... there were several workmen tilling the beds and replanting and mulching...but one guy had a camera in his shirt pocket and it had fallen out. He used it to take pictures of completed jobs...etc. We looked and looked for it, but to no avail. He was working another job, going back and forth and checked to see if it had been left there..still no find. This was Thursday, and Friday of last week. He even went through some of the trash bags...nothing.

I was driving out of the driveway after we had spent time looking and I saw him working on the edge of the flower bed on the drivers side....and I rolled down my window and said lets pray for help in finding your camera...he said "thank you very much" in his chopped up Spanish and took his hat off, bowed his head and listened as I prayed and ..as I asked God to help us find it! .And guess what happened....(this sounds like a story my grandkids love to hear....they love the "guess what happened" part)...This morning I went out to greet Bentley, my precious yellow lab....and there was the camera....in its case...sitting right by her house....she had found what we could not!

We were not looking in the right places....it was there in the bushes all along...but we either overlooked it or did not look hard enough and carefully enough
in the right place. Bentley was not looking for a camera...she merely knew something was in her flower bed that belonged somewhere else and repositioned it. But just to show you God answers prayers in ways we sometimes can not even imagine.

So what are you looking for? Something as simple as a camera, a lost ring or bracelet, or glasses...or keys...I am always losing my keys? Or are you looking for some peace in the midst of a crisis or maybe comfort in the confines of lonliness or strength becasue your knees have gone weak with stress and too many things you are having to juggle....whatever it is the first question is "Have you prayed about it?" We forget so many times to involve God in our quest for something lost...and why becasue he is the one who knows all and sees all....and has the power to guide us to all that we are searching for.

God wants the best for each of us...sometimes we don't find what we are looking for becasue God is using what we have lost to bring us closer to him and more dependent on him. Even to the extent that we say when someone dear to us dies...I have lost my mom or I have lost my dad....when in fact we have not lost them at all.. we know where they are and just who they are with....Jesus. But that lost deal throws us into a shifted dependency...from the dependency on the person who is no longer on this earth to God... we try as we may to substitute someone else in their place...but truy God is the only one who has all the
provisions that we need to keep going forth without falling into a pit of depressions or sadness or despondency. He is where we can find the strength we need, the security we need, the courage we need, the wisdom we need, the love we need....but most of all the hope we need. The hope that there is something to come that we wil find as we journey with God as our partner.

And what about the illusive search for lost happiness? We try so hard to fill our lives with stuff and people, and places to go....when happiness is not found in outside activities...it springs from the inside! Because that is where the Holy Spirit stirs our attitude of contentment. Happiness, I think and contentment are
traveling buddies. And neither is illusive as long as we are trusting God in our everyday activities. God helps us to find joy in each day...and happiness along our way. We just forget to ask for his help.

God hears all of our prayers...and knows our needs and knows what it is we are searching for...but before we look any further for what it is that we have lost...we have to ask God for His help in finding it....and have confidence that he will follow through with the help that we have requested. We may be blessed with the find we had identified or maybe God will sway our thoughts into a different direction and we may end up finding something so much better that God has provided.

Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

I really couldn't believe it when I went out this morning and found the camera....but I went back and traced my steps....I looked on my own to no avail....then I prayed...and the prayer was not answered immediately...as a matter of fact I had forgotten about it....and then after days past...the lost camera appeared becasue it had been found by a dog...now really...you have to laugh...God does have a terrific sence of humor. He is not all work and no play...he loves a good story just like the rest of us....and this again is HIS story...as trite as it may seem and as curious as it may be..for it was just a yardman's lost camera....God cares about all of our cares and our desires....and he recognizes the losses that we have suffered...be it as small as a trinket...or as grand as a loved one or a job..or significant purpose...and he will help us to find the peace and the joy and the hope once again if only we will ask Him and then trust him to answer...on His time. God will help us to find what we can not find on our own.

Dear Lord, Thank you that you do see all and know all and can do all. Help us to be mindful of your loving kindness and you willingness to help us find whatever it is we are searching for. May we seek you first and know that all other things will follow...today and every day. Amen


Praise God wherever you are or whatever situation he has allowed you to be in...for His glory will shine through.
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