By Andrea Goebel
God’s Way
“Dear St. Anthony, please come around. Titan is lost and he needs to be found.”
I prayed as I stared into the dark woods across our yard. Rain falling through the trees sounded like the clinking of a collar, but it wasn’t. I called my dog a few more times but to no avail.
This was the first time I had prayed this prayer, and I wasn’t sure it was intended for lost pets. However, I felt desperate. “God, please let him come when I call. Please help me find him.”
Our family dog had fled after lightning from a passing storm spooked him. This wasn’t the first time he had strayed away, but it was the first time he hadn’t returned home.
As panic set upon me, I wondered what would happen if Titan didn’t come home that night. I knew I wouldn’t stop searching for him, so I brainstormed multiple steps I would take to look for him the next day.
I also began to wonder how God feels when we stray from Him. Sad that we turned our back on Him? Heartbroken for the pain that led us away? Concerned for our well-being without our reliance on Him?
Even if we leave the safety of God’s guidance, He encourages us in many ways: through personal nudges, through loved ones, through scripture. He will never stop seeking us. More than anything, He wants to be in communion with us, and our salvation and redemption through Jesus is the path to Him. God rejoices when we find our way back to Him.
In the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus demonstrates this truth; he asks those around him, “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance” (Luke 4-7).
When we find ourselves lost in life, we can cling to the truth that we have a heavenly father who will never stop searching for us. He wants us to come home to Him.
The morning after Titan ran away, I drove to nearby houses looking for him. One neighbor said she may have seen him nearby, and sure enough, when I drove to the place she mentioned, I found him. Joy and relief flooded through me as I knelt and hugged him. And as we walked to my car, his trotting steps and wagging tail showed me he felt happy, too.
Imagine the joyful shouts of the angels in heaven when God saves another wandering soul gone astray. Imagine the relief our God feels knowing His beloved child is back in His care. Imagine the peace you will feel when you accept the love and forgiveness our heavenly father freely offers.
How blessed are we that he always greets us with open arms?