A woman hurries around the house trying to get ready to leave. She's already late. Very, very late. Her oldest children are screaming over a toy. She estimates thirty seconds until her boys come to blows. Her toddler has just learned how to undress herself, and now she runs around the house laughing victoriously as she tears off each article of clothing - including her dirty diaper.
Finally, with only a dash of depleted desperation, she's ready to go.
But wait...
An internal alarm blares in her head. She realizes she's missing something. She can't put her finger on it... Oh, no! Grabbing her purse, she pushing miscellaneous items around, fingers the pockets, and finally dumps all the contents onto her kitchen counter.
Frantically she counts.
"One...Two...Three...Four...Five...Six...Where are the others?" She mumbles under her breath.
She spies Seven under an old receipt.
Grabbing Seven she sees that Eight and Nine have fallen onto the floor. She scoops them up.
Where is Ten? Where is Ten?
If Eight and Nine fell onto the floor, then she theorizes Ten might have as well. She grabs a broom. She would sweep the entire house, look in every jar, and under every toy and dirty sock until she found it.
And then she and her kids would celebrate with ice cream.
Does this sound vaguely familiar? Perhaps you've lived this scene. (I imagine most anyone with children have experienced a variation of this particular day.) However, it's also inspired by The Parable of the Lost Coin.
"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:8-10
God is so amazing. So loving. So diligent. So merciful. So loyal. So forgiving.
He will search for you. Always.
That is an undeniable truth.
But I felt Him whispering to my heart, adding another layer.
He searches for us. But do I search for Him?
I know I don't usually notice a missing penny. It's just a penny. However, in a sea of people God notices me. Truthfully, He notices my missing penny, my missing shoe (I hope it's happy, wherever it is...), and my missing book (Yeah, I'm going to want that back...).
But do I always notice when I'm missing Him? Time? His Word? His Truths?
The Tenth Coin. It works both ways.
May there be more days where I search frantically until I find it. Him.
Hugs!
~V. Joy Palmer
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