So, last Fall, my key to our van went missing.  We still have the other key, but this one just up and vanished, like that sock that somehow manages to work its way out of a load of laundry somewhere between the washer and the dryer, never to be found again.

Up to this point in my life, everything I’ve lost and have asked God to help me find has been found.  Sometimes right away, sometimes years later, but to my recollection, each time I have asked God to help me find something, He has done so.  He doesn’t have to help me find it, but He’s done so enough times that whenever I lose something, God is the first one I talk to about it.

It may seem a little silly at first to ask God to help you find something as trivial as a pair of work gloves, or a book, or a van key, but think about it for a moment.  He’s the Omniscient One – He knows everything!  He’s the Omnipresent One – He’s everywhere all the time!  He’s the Omnipotent One – He has the power to do as He pleases!  Why not ask for His help?

Did you know that God has already searched before we even ask Him?  King David acknowledges this at the beginning of Psalm 139:

“LORD, you have searched me and known me.  You know when I sit down and when I stand up; you understand my thoughts from far away.  You observe my travels and my rest; you are aware of all of my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue, you know all about it, LORD.” – vs 1-4 (CSB)

It’s one thing to know that God knows where something is that we can’t find.  But far more important for you and me to understand is the fact that God knows us inside and out.  We can’t make a move or think a thought or say a word without God already knowing and understanding what it is that we’re doing, thinking, or saying.  God has searched every nook and cranny of our lives; nothing is hidden from Him.

That’s kind of a gut check, isn’t it?  I know that my own actions, thoughts, and words aren’t always pleasing to God and helpful to others.  I’m betting yours aren’t always either.

But David offers us great comfort a little further into the Psalm.

“Where can I go to escape your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.  If I live at the eastern horizon or settle at the western limits, even there your hand will lead me; your right hand will hold on to me.” – vs 7-10 (CSB)

Believer, God will never misplace you because He’s always with you.  There is nowhere you can go where He is not there with you.  He holds you in His hand, and nothing can snatch you from His grasp (John 10:28-30).

At the end of Psalm 139, King David asks God to help him search for something, but it is of much greater significance than a van key.

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.  See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.” – vs. 23-24 (CSB)

That is a prayer that God will answer in the affirmative every time.  Because He has searched us and knows us and nothing in our lives is hidden from Him, we can ask Him to help us find the things in us that are offensive and sinful.  God will show us where our misplaced motives and affections are.  And because He holds us in His right hand, we can trust that when He reveals those things to us, He will help us rid ourselves of those things and lead us in His everlasting way.

Back in May, my van key had been (in my impatient opinion) missing long enough, and I prayed that God would either confirm that it was really gone before we spent the money to get a replacement, or that He would help me find it if it was still around.  A few weeks later, on the 1 year anniversary of when we bought the van, I was getting into my truck with the kids after church, and I grabbed my Bluetooth earpiece out of the center console.  As I raised it up to my ear, I fumbled it in my hand and dropped it.  It fell between the seat and the center console.

I immediately sighed and grumbled because I had to go digging for it.  So I reached my hand blindly down into the abyss, and when I got to the bottom, my finger went straight into a metal ring.  I thought, “that doesn’t feel like my headset”.  I pulled it up, and when my hand emerged, you guessed it, I was holding my van key.  Every. single. day since that key had been missing, I climbed in and out of that truck, and it was eight inches away the entire time.  I literally laughed out loud and thanked God right there in the truck with the kids.

God helped me find more than just my van key that day.  He showed me an area of my life where I’m prone to doubt, prone to complain, prone to forget.  He showed me the concerns of my heart.  And because He loves me and knows me, He showed me in such a way that I could not deny His omniscience, His omnipresence, and His omnipotence.

And I could not deny His grace.  He didn’t have to help me find the van key, but He did, because He’s good, and He loves me.  He doesn’t have to help me see the actions, thoughts, and words in my life that aren’t pleasing to Him, but He does, because He’s good, and He loves me.  He doesn’t have to hold me in His hand, but He does, because He’s good, and He loves me.  He doesn’t have to lead me in His everlasting way, but He does, because He’s good, and He loves me.

What have you lost that God wants to help you find?  You won’t know the answer to that question until you ask Him to help you find it.  And you can trust that when you do, He will reveal the concerns of your heart to you, for your good and for His glory, because He is good and He loves you.  And while He holds you in His hand, He will lead you in His everlasting way.

Search us, Lord!