Topic 7 – Who Is God That He Helps Us Find That Which Became Lost?
The Rudolphs when in Malawi
In Malawi, we lost our bunch of car keys. There were other important keys on that key ring, and no amount of searching would find them. This was especially important for us because replacing keys in the Developing World can range from difficult to impossible, and we needed the car for many things, including transporting our children. What to do? We searched and searched – but no keys were found. Prayers for help from Jesus became urgent.
Then something extraordinary happened. Brenda heard a voice (not her own) in her head that the keys were stuck under the mattress on our bed! At first, she ignored the voice because how could the keys have found their way under our mattress? The idea was so ridiculous that she considered disregarding it totally.
However, she then found herself becoming inexplicably agitated about it.
Finally, she decided she had better check it out to put her mind at rest.
Brenda stuck her hand under the mattress on top of our bed and to her amazement and growing excitement felt something there. She pulled out the missing keys!
How had they got there? We certainly had not put them there. Perhaps our toddler had pushed them there and then forgotten about doing so, or was unable to communicate what he had done?
We simply do not know for certain how the keys got under that mattress. What we do know now is that Jesus knew where the keys were when none of us did, and was prepared to help us find them.
It was exciting for us that Jesus had been prepared to help us in this way.
This testimony shows that:
- God sometimes responds to “desperate” prayers for finding things
- God can communicate today in different ways, in this case by voice, although that is rare.
- God also appears to like us praying about lost items even if not desperately important. This because He is very relational.
- God knows where all our “lost” items actually are.
Roland Pletts and his lost briefcase.
This is the account of the recovery of my briefcase which contained my passport, other vital documents, all my funds, and much more.
In 2002 I left my homeland of Zimbabwe for the last time and travelled with a friend by road to South Africa where I was soon to board a flight overseas. It had been a rough time with many spiritual, emotional and financial challenges and other difficulties to work through.
We drove non-stop from the border to Pietersburg where we needed a break. We pulled in at a garage outside the town with refreshment facilities. Outside once more and in the large parking lot, we talked briefly and I took something out of my briefcase which was kept behind the front seat. All seemed well, so we climbed aboard and headed for Johannesburg.
We had our two dogs with us which we were re-homing in SA and had prearranged to drop them off at a certain kennel. When we arrived, it was already getting late so we got the dogs out and took them into the office. I then went out to get my briefcase and found that it was not behind the seat and in fact not in the car at all. Disaster! My future life and emigration depended on that briefcase!
The shock hit me like sledge hammer. I realized that somehow it had been left on the tarmac in the middle of the parking lot hundreds of miles away. Perhaps because of fatigue and stress I had done the unthinkable and driven off without putting it back in the car. Everything I owned was in that case, all my personal papers, my passport, air tickets and all my funds. There was nothing I could do – except pray, which I did in desperation and shock.
I told my friend what had happened as we booked the dogs into the kennels. There was no way we could turn around and go back, my timings would not allow it. Im any case, the likelihood of the briefcase with all the money I had it to still sitting in the middle of the parking lot was, to be honest, totally zero.
Hardly holding back the panic, my friend and I discussed what I could do, but the options were not good. As we talked the lady behind the desk listened and then asked me which garage had we pulled into near Pietersburg. We could not recall except to say that it was a few miles outside town. She said she thought she knew the very one and then she somehow found its telephone number and phoned and spoke to a receptionist and told the story.
She was told to wait and the line went quiet. I frankly held no hope of my case having now been found and rescued after several hours left fully exposed in a public area in this poverty=stricken nation where theft was common..
After a long pause a voice came back – the Manager. He asked what the case looked like and I described it. He asked if there was any money in the case and I explained that all I owned was in it, including all my cash. There was another pause.
The voice came returned – Yes, the case was here and the money was in it as well as all the other things I had described! What must he do with it, he asked.
Apparently, one of his workers had seen a man going off with the briefcase and thought it did not look right and had stopped him. When there was no reasonable explanation, the worker had taken it off the man and brought it to the office where no one knew what to do with it.
I stood dumbstruck.
Now the lady took over, Where was I staying overnight, what was my address, and my contact number etc. Would I be there between 9am and 10am the following morning?
Yes, yes, yes I replied, and the cost? – No charge she said. And sure enough, there it was in the morning by special overnight currier.
Was this not a miracle of divine response to prayer? For me it certainly was; my whole life and future plans were restored to me.
Roland’s testimony shows that:
- God can restore what otherwise appears to be lost.
- Quick, desperate prayers to God in despairing circumstances can be answered.
3. God can use a single honest person (the worker) to reverse an otherwise hopeless situation.
Rudolph Family in Toowoomba, Australia
As new migrants, we found our first year in the big city of Brisbane daunting. We escaped to the beautiful city of Toowoomba, which was small enough to suit us all, and where the family thrived over the next 20 years.
Towards the end of our first year there, Brenda and I agreed that a pet dog would be good for the children and that we would look for a suitable family dog the following year.
As has often been the case, God’s timing and our timing did not quite match.
Natasha noticed a scrawny stray with bleeding paws wandering near our home and brought it home. The stray was a black-and-white sheep dog that tucked voraciously into the food and water we fed her with. She had no collar or any identification on her.
“Can we keep her? Please, please,” the children asked anxiously.
“No, she isn’t ours. We will advertise her in the neighbourhood and local newspaper. If no-one claims her, we can then consider keeping her.”
We named her “Jessie” while we searched for the owners, but without success. From her looks and poor condition, we were told she was a sheep dog and had most likely ‘fallen off the back of a truck’ when a farmer drove through Toowoomba heading to his or her property, and the driver may not have missed her before arriving at the farm.
“Can we keep her now?” the children asked anxiously while we were still searching unsuccessfully for the owners.
Jessie took matters into her own paws and disappeared, presumably looking for her original family! No amount of searching on our part came up with a trace of her.
“Don’t worry,” we told the children, “if she is meant to be ours, she will somehow return.”
After a painful wait we at last had a phonecall.
“I think we have the dog you described in the paper. I am looking at her now in our yard.”
Oh no! Had we lost Jessie?
“Are you wanting to keep her?”
“No. Not at all. You can collect her if you want to.”
There was joy all around when we were reunited with a gaunt Jessie. She quickly became a sleek and wonderful family dog, friend of all, and beyond what we could have hoped for in a family pet.
This testimony illustrates the following about God:
- God’s timing and ours for things to happen are often not the same. His is better.
- God actually knows where everything is situated on earth and has the capacity to return things that otherwise may appear to us to be lost.
- God comprehends the settling effect a pet can have on unsettled family members.
- God’s love for families and their wellbeing runs very deep.
Glen and Sarah Biggs, missionaries, needing to find Sue who had a key for them in the bustling overcrowded Singapore airport – with only an hour to do so!
Singapore airport is like a small city in and of itself, it is not an ideal location to try and find someone whilst in transit. We would overlap with Sue in the airport for a mere 45 minutes! Then we would fly out to separate parts of the world. We did not have phone contact. Please God help us find her in time!
We knew Sue’s destination and carrier and after consulting the board we guessed which gate she was at and started a mad dash to get to her gate ASAP. I am not a runner, but knew that if I didn’t keep up with Glen, I would have two people to search for and my chances of success on this mission would diminish substantially.
After avoiding collisions with other travellers and running for the entire route we arrived at the gate just in time to see Sue pass through security into the gate where boarding was already underway. I am certain that shouting in an airport is frowned upon but there was no other option. Unfortunately, even though in general I have the louder voice, after running I had no ability to stand up straight let alone shout.
Glen managed to get Sue’s attention and after some quick conversation she was able to pass a small envelope back through security to Glen. We had succeeded! But now had to make our way back to the opposite side of the airport to terminal 1 in time for our own departure.
I’m glad I slept from exhaustion on our flight to Manila because arriving there began a new level of challenge. The small envelope Sue had given us held a short note which included an address, and stated that the key to our apartment had been left with the gate guards because she was concerned that she wouldn’t connect with us in Singapore. The address was easy enough to find and over an hour later our taxi pulled into a driveway where we unloaded.
Our exhilaration on arriving was short lived as guard after guard had no idea what key we were referring to and where they would find such a key. God please help us to find that key!
The guards were kind and took our bags to the security office to keep them safe and gave us directions to the agent responsible for renting the apartment. That agent must have access to the apartment.
By the time we found the agent’s office it was closed and not due to open until the next morning at 9. Feeling rather despondent we started to make our way back to the apartment. Darkness had descended on Manila but that didn’t mean it was quiet or peaceful – or necessarily safe.
Panic was beginning to creep into my soul from the emotional overload. All I wanted to do was sit on the side of the street and cry or better still get into my apartment and go to bed. Stress was bubbling through me when we encountered a young lady we had never met before. Her bubbly personality and enthusiasm for life was encouraging, but it was the single statement out of her mouth that sent tingles through to my extremities and settled me in my core. “Please stop worrying you are not alone and haven’t been forgotten. He knows where that key is.” I had forgotten to let God be God in the rush and panic of trying to solve this problem myself. Pausing long enough to pray together brought waves of peace and washed away the panic that was threatening to drown me.
Upon our arrival back at the apartments the guards had just completed shift change and it was discovered that the guard who received the key from Sue had unintentionally left earlier to go home with it still in his pocket. Very sheepishly, he explained this to us as he and another guard showed us to our apartment and let us in.
Sarah’s testimony shows that:
- God can help us find people in time to avoid massive problems.
- God can help us locate otherwise missing items such as vital keys.
- God can provide people to encourage us during a difficult challenge. He does this because He loves us and cares about our problems.
- God is with us and organises answers to prayer, but panic during a crisis can drown out the peace needed to focus on God’s answers.
Eric van der Westhuizen travelling in South Africa with friend Erns.
Because of the high crime rate in South Africa, both Erns and I had decided to take a firearm each on the trip – Erns a .22 revolver and myself a .38 revolver. The laws in SA were strict regarding firearms and they had to be kept in a safe or carried with or on the owner at all times. Any deviation from these laws involved heavy fines and even jail time.
When we eventually found a laundromat in Somerset West, Erns carried the bag which contained our dirty washing and I carried the bag in which we had the two revolvers, my phone, my wallet and a few other valuables that we did not want to leave in the bakkie (small van). I placed the bag between myself and the counter while I wrote down the list of all the items of clothing that we were handing in.
It was now getting quite late and we still had some shopping to do before heading off. We left the laundromat and headed for a SPAR shop where Erns went in to replenish our groceries for the rest of our trip. I remained in the bakkie as there were quite a few drunks sitting close to the only parking spot that we could find. Whilst waiting for Erns, I thought that I would give Mike a call to let him know that we would be at his place soon.
I could not see the phone. Then, it suddenly dawned on me that my phone was in the bag that I had taken into the laundromat!
Panic stations and decision time again. What to do? I couldn’t use or lock the bakkie as Erns had taken the keys with him, but I needed to get back to the laundromat urgently.
I pretended to lock the bakkie, with the loiterers watching me intently, and set off to the laundromat which was some distance away, at a pace which surprised myself.
Sending up fleeting prayers as I ran, I thought of the dire consequences if the bag with the guns and wallet had been stolen.
I was sweating profusely, and not just from the running, when I entered the laundromat. On entering, I focused my eyes on the spot where I had left the bag. It was nowhere to be seen! My heart missed a beat as I was now in serious trouble. The shop was full of people and I anticipated the worst outcome possible. I started cursing myself for my stupidity and neglect.
My mood lifted abruptly as the woman who had served me, picked up the bag from behind the counter and handed it to me!
What a relief to find all the contents still in the bag! My prayers had been answered and my gratitude knew no bounds.
When I arrived back at the bakkie, Erns was waiting for me, wondering where I had disappeared to, my having left the bakkie unlocked and unguarded. He was equally relieved and grateful that I had been able to retrieve the bag with its contents intact.
Eric’s testimony illustrates about God that:
- God knows where we are and where we have been.
- God can help us find lost items.
- God can keep those items safe until we retrieve them.
- God can protect us and our goods during a crisis.
Isobel Ogg in Caloundra, Sunshine Coast, Australia
I have lost many things many times that I have not found in my initial searching – glasses, keys, mobile phones and suchlike. All things I have needed in my daily life. It is when they have been badly needed or lost for a little while that I stop searching and pray that God will help me find them.
God has helped me many times to find things: for example, sometimes a new place to look just comes to mind.
On occasion, I get a picture of where to look – this is especially if it is not somewhere I may have thought of.
God, who knows everything, knows where my lost items are. He has demonstrated that to me many times.
Isobel’s testimony shows that:
- God knows where everything actually is.
- God expects us to pray and to expect answers when we need to find things.
- God’s answers to prayer can come in a variety of ways – there is no formula for how He chooses to help us. Sometimes His answers can be delayed for different reasons, for example something like “This time I will delay My answer to develop your need for more responsibility/ more patience/ better organisation” etc.