Finding my Piece/Peace Luke 15:8-10

I figured I should post my most current "revelation" while in the Word this morning as a starting post after The Secret Place.  While searching for another verse in Luke, I ran across Luke 15:8-10.  I admit that I certainly had never read this verse, but it spoke to me in so many ways, I instantly began to write.  I came up with so many different titles including:

• The ONE THING that Stole My Joy! (of course I would be negative Nancy first..not today Satan)
• Rejoice Together!!
• I Have Found the Piece/Peace which I Lost!
• Let Me Be the ONE REPENTING SINNER, I Want to Rejoice!

just to name a few.  (Now I see how preachers can get at least three Sundays worth of message from two versus!!)  So here's the verses:

⁸ “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ ¹⁰ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

"WOW", I thought.  Oh how long I kept the light on and "swept" my house looking for that precious piece/peace.  I looked EVERYWHERE!  I called on friends, but it certainly wasn't to rejoice, it was to complain about not being able to find it.  I was MAD!  Because I never felt like I had LOST my piece/peace, I just KNEW someone or something had STOLEN IT!  Or...did I GIVE it away?  The hurt, confusion, and anger of it not being there certainly trumped the thoughts of how happy I would be when I found it!  And "search carefully?"...PLEASE!!  I turned my house and my world upside down looking for it. Soon, the mess was too much for me to bear, and I gave up looking for it all together.  I let people and situations into my life that I thought could replace it, most of whom didn't even know what IT was, let alone replace it, nor did they have the power or desire to do so.  This went on for YEARS and YEARS!!  Can you imagine how many lanterns, brooms, and false findings that would bring, and the toll searching was having on my life?  I missed blessings, I missed opportunities, I missed time with my family and friends, I missed...ME!

Then, finally the day came when I at least came into a place that I could settle myself, start over, and begin looking for my piece/peace.  It was the day I started to attend church.  I knew it wasn't time to call my friends and neighbors to rejoice with me, because the only thing I did was strategically searched as opposed to ransacking my world.  BUT OHH....the day I JOINED church...that was the day I FOUND my piece/peace.  I didn't find it on my own...I HAD HELP!  God the Father, Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit, my new pastor, my new church family, certain friends and family all became lights and brooms in my life.  And you better believe I was calling ALL my friends, family, and neighbors to let them know I found my piece/peace and they could now REJOICE with me!.  The moment I went to that alter, confessed my sins and my belief in the resurrection, and asked for forgiveness, I knew my life would never be the same.  I could finally stop searching for my piece/peace. 

I can hear Jesus chuckling right now even as I write (he does have a sense of humor, ya know..), "Princess (that's his name for me)... I AM THE PRINCE OF PEACE.  As long as you remember where I AM, right with you, you will NEVER search for this piece/peace again.

Well, I BELIEVE you Daddy! Better late than never.

     

Coming up:

"Loosed in the Fire" Reflections after reading Daniel 3

"Girl, You Ain't Ready" Reflections after reading John 16: 12-15