rejoice with me!

I am the master loser.  I tend to lose things, frequently.  This is a source of significant frustration.

However, on the other side, when those lost things get found, there is joy of the "rejoice with me" kind.

Some recent examples:

About a month ago, I loaded my luggage onto a conveyor belt in Dublin, heading to Wales.  That's the last I saw of it.  For two weeks, I emailed, texted, phoned, all to no avail.  I had given it up as lost forever, and moved on with new clothes and etc.  But a week ago, I received notice that the bag had been found. It appeared on my doorstep this morning.  "Rejoice with me!"

Two months ago, I handed my keyring, loaded with safe and fascinating stuff, to my one-year-old granddaughter as I was dealing with her brother's poopy diaper.  When I went back to retrieve it, it had vanished.  Several hours later, after scouring the house with my daughter, we found it slipped under the mattress of her crib.  "Rejoice with me!"

Years ago, I was at a gas station and drove away with my wallet on top of the car.  When I got home, I realized it was gone, and thought of that refuel.  It was nowhere to be found at the station, but I thought it might have been sent flying when I had left the station, turning into traffic.  As I walked down the side of the road, I found a dollar bill; then another, then a 5, a 20, a 10, a credit card, and several more.  The wallet was lost, but its contents (minus a $10 handling fee) were fully restored.  "Rejoice with me!"

In each case, there was joy of a kind which I shared with others then, and do with you now.  It didn't matter whether I had invested much or little energy in helping the lost to be found.  It was as if I had received a gift from God, Who specializes in finding lost things and lost people, like me, like you.

He invites us to join Him in seeking the lost, as Luke 15 so beautifully illustrates.  But perhaps He wants us to join in so that we can join in the surprising joy of the lost being found, New Life in us, and in others.  "Rejoice with Me!" He says.  May we never tire of sharing in His Joy.