{"id":23916,"date":"2018-10-06T03:30:20","date_gmt":"2018-10-06T10:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=23916"},"modified":"2018-09-28T14:21:01","modified_gmt":"2018-09-28T21:21:01","slug":"october-6-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2018\/10\/06\/october-6-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"October 6, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cI have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me, for I have not forgotten your commands.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Psalm 119:176 NLT<\/p>\n

Lost<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Have you ever been lost? First you\u2019re just annoyed or frustrated, but then, perhaps as it gets darker, you start to panic. There are all kinds of darkness. We can certainly find ourselves lost in physical darkness, but emotional, mental or spiritual darkness can be even more frightening.<\/p>\n

I remember a time when I was overwhelmed by the thought I was going to fall into a pit so dark and deep I\u2019d never come back. God gently whispered to me, \u201cThere is no place you can fall, no matter how dark, that I cannot find you.\u201d<\/p>\n

“I will give you the treasures of darkness\u00a0and hidden riches of secret places,\u00a0that you may know that I, the LORD,\u00a0Who call you by your name,\u00a0am the God of Israel\u201d\u00a0<\/em>(Isaiah 45:3). Most of the time the Hebrew word for darkness\u00a0<\/strong>means literal, physical darkness, death, misery, sorrow, etc. Here, however, it means to be hid in darkness, in underground cells. There are treasures hidden in the dark places we find ourselves, things we learn of the Lord that we can learn nowhere else. When it is darkest we learn whether or not He truly is the Light. When we can\u2019t see, we learn whether or not He is omniscient (all-knowing, all-seeing).<\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s the darkness of the enemy. Paul was in a very dark place\u2014when he was known as as Saul, he had zealously persecuted Christians, but on the road to Damascus Jesus blinded him and, lost in the darkness of his physical world, he found the Light of his spiritual world. In Acts 26:17a Jesus tells Paul He\u2019s sending him to the Gentiles \u201cto open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of\u00a0<\/em>Satan to God\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Have you ever been lost and were too proud to ask for directions? We can get lost spiritually that way, too.\u201c<\/em>Haughty eyes and a proud heart\u2014\u2009the unplowed field of the wicked\u2014produce sin\u201d\u00a0<\/em>(Prov 21:4). Somehow we find ourselves looking and going places we never intended to go, doing things we never intended to do, lost in spiritual darkness, ashamed to ask for His help back.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s always hope. The psalmist asks God to find him. It instantly brings to mind Luke 15:4-7 NLT. \u201cIf a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won\u2019t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders\u201d\u00a0<\/em>(Luke 15:4-5). Jesus finds us!<\/p>\n

\u201cLord, thank You that when we\u2019re lost, have fallen into darkness, or in our pride have strayed\u2014You, our Good Shepherd, find us. Help us remember there\u2019s no place too far, too deep or too dark. Amen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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