The Lost and Found

I was headed to a Bassmaster Tourney on Friday being held in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. Trouble was, the sign I just drove by said, "Welcome to Tennessee".

Uh-oh....I was lost.

This is not a new occurrence for me. I get lost driving around town, much less in a rural portion of Kentucky.

The interesting thing about being lost is you find out some things about yourself. Especially when you're alone. There's just that unfiltered reaction of knowing you're miles away from where you want to be. Do you get mad? Do you figure the directions are wrong? Or do you determine the fine people in the Commonwealth State could pony up some money for a couple more road signs?

Me? I just sat there trying to figure out how in the world I could get lost with not one, but two, maps right there in front of me. Then I started thinking about my dad, he wouldn't have gotten lost. Or my friend Doug with his GPS device, he would have been pulling into the tournament right now. Same with my brother-in-law, he never gets lost.

So I decided to do something radical in a situation like this – I prayed. Just that God would help me learn something out of this as I backtracked 40 some-odd miles down the road. Just anything, God, please. And maybe some cheap gas, too.

And God gave me a thought, "Quit focusing on where you are instead of where you're not". At first I just kind of dismissed it as quasi-Kung Fu philosophy, like some David Carradine-esque wisdom (grasshopper). But as I thought about it, it started hitting me harder and harder. Yeah, I was looking at the big star inked next to Kentucky Dam Village on the map and was irritated I wasn't there instead of focusing on where I was now.

Focus. Adjust. Move on.

And I'm pretty sure a lot of us do that with things in our lives. We look at ourselves and think, "I'm 50 years old...what have I done with my life?", "I've put in 10 years at that company and this is all I'm getting out of it?" or, "Is it ever going to get better?".

But you see, that's the great thing about Christ. He's not concerned about where you're not, who you're not or how you're not. He'll take you right where you are, who you are and how you are. And it doesn't matter if you've been a Christian for a day or a lifetime, He will always be there to guide you, lead you and love you to where He needs you to go.

Because sometimes you have to be truly lost before you can appreciate the feeling of being found. And a gas station selling $3.83 a gallon gas.