Misplaced

It's not exactly lost, just misplaced. That's what I'm telling myself about the (to me) valuable item I haven't been able to locate this morning. I feel sure that if I just carefully go through the activities of the last few hours, remembering where I was, what I was doing, who I was visiting with, it will come to me in a flash. Or maybe as I straighten up the area in the house where I'm convinced I had it last, I'll stumble upon it. What a relief that will be! It's not really lost, just misplaced. That's what I keep telling myself.

Maybe that's how the Lord feels about some of God's children who are, for all intents and purposes, missing. They're there, all right, but just not exactly where they need to be. They're misplaced.

Jesus told the stories of the shepherd who had lost one sheep and of a woman who had lost one of ten coins. In the case of the sheep, yes, it had wandered off on its own. But in the case of the coin, the story conveys the feeling that it was really misplaced. In both cases the lost valuable was found, and there was great rejoicing. I hope I find what I'm looking for today. And I hope, too, that some of God's missing children will be found today.