I was a young mother in an affluent neighborhood raising two sons, ages three and five. What spare time I had was spent in Bible Study Fellowship and a daily practice of recreational jogging.
Bible Study offered an invigorating departure from the daily routine of raising two active sons. Experiencing a spiritual renewal of sorts, I gushed to all my friends my new-found discovery: God.
BSF had an annual orientation designed as a get acquainted encounter for women considering the year commitment to the study. Three women from my neighborhood accepted my invitation and joined the fellowship. I was delighted.
After attending Bible study a few weeks, I asked one of the mothers if she would like for me to watch her daughter while she completed her lesson. She quickly agreed and I brought her daughter, Molly, to the house to play with my two young sons.
The kids began playing in the garage and I ran to the kitchen to get them a snack. I was gone for three minutes and in that time my mischievous boys had jumped up, pushed the garage door button, and Molly ran out to the driveway. The boys banged it again and as I arrived it was closing, separating us. I immediately opened it again, but Molly had disappeared.
We searched the driveway and perimeter of the house to no avail. Construction workers were digging ditches and building a house next door but no one claimed to have seen anything.
It occurred to me that Molly may have been taken, but seemed almost impossible for someone to have pulled up in a car and captured her that quickly. Frantically screaming her name and scoping the horizon for any evidence of a little girl left me troubled and despondent. I knew I needed to call her mother to help search but that prospect left me nauseous. I knew I could not delay telling her and trudged to her house.
Sharon appeared trembling and distraught upon hearing the news. Another neighbor, Joy, joined us to scour the neighborhood. Hysterically crying, Sharon’s shrill scream will forever be etched in my memory.
“Where are you, Molly, come home, where are you hiding?” Over and over she cried out in desperation for her daughter. Joy offered to search the house one more time before calling the police.
Scanning the master bedroom and peering into the large bathroom, Joy spotted the little runaway, who had simply skipped back into the house through the front door from the driveway. Crouched in the cubby of the bathroom area, Molly finally emerged, revealing her hide and seek position. Oblivious to the crisis she caused, as well as the death blow to my shipwrecked reputation in the neighborhood, Molly jumped into her mother’s arms, grinning sheepishly.
The next morning was Bible study. Sharon and I routinely rode together. Embarrassed and remorseful about the incident, I rose early and jogged, pouring out my heart to God, venting both the shame and anger I felt.
“Had I not tried to help spread the gospel and bring women to Bible study? Didn’t I volunteer to watch Sharon’s child so she could study? Is this my reward for Christian service; shame, humiliation, and condemnation?” I could almost feel the label, bad parent, appear on my forehead.
Recalling the theme scripture for the week, I recited aloud, “For we know that all things work together for good, to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28 NIV) While pondering and meditating on this scripture and running past Sharon’s house, I asked, “If all things work together for good; I want to know, Lord, how was this situation good or working for good according to your purpose?” Immediately I received an impression:
“Give Sharon a message. Say to her: Do you know the anguish you felt as you cried out for your lost daughter?“
That is exactly how I feel about you and the question I’m asking you. Where are you, Sharon? Come out, quit hiding, come home!
Already reeling from my earlier experience, this communication struck like a snakebite. Did God expect me to relay this message? He reminded me of the Matthew 18 passage where the shepherd left the 99 sheep on the hills to go after the one who had wandered away. He knew each by name–and that included Sharon.
Kicking off my tennis shoes, I showered to get ready to go to the study. The boys and I walked a block over to Sharon’s. We quietly loaded the kids in the car with the events of the prior day weighing heavily on our newfound friendship. Like the aftermath of a picnic that rained out; it seemed our idyllic friendship had been seriously tarnished. I apologized again for the event of the previous day, and told Sharon I fervently prayed
that God would redeem something from this experience according to Romans 8:28. I poured out the impression of the early morning.
“Do you know the anguish you felt as you cried out for your lost daughter? That is how God feels about you and the question He is asking you.”
Where are you, Sharon? Come out, quit hiding, come home!
Sharon exploded in tears as the feelings of her lost daughter flooded her memory. I hugged her and we rode in silence to Bible study.
Later, I learned from one of the other ladies that Sharon committed her life to the Lord along with her whole family and became active in her church.
God is able to work all things together for good no matter the situation. He is determined to recapture hearts, go after the lost, and teach us His ways.
Are you concerned about your reputation or saving souls?
