Have you ever hunted for something, looking everywhere, but couldn’t find it? I did that today.
It’s been cold and snowy here in the mountains of North Carolina for about a week. Today I was curled up on the couch with a blanket trying to get warm. I’d even turned the gas logs on, but my feet were still like blocks of ice. I don’t know about you, but if I can’t get my feet warm, the rest of me feels cold as well.
So I set out in search of my slippers. They’re ugly as all get-out. Big. Fuzzy. Pink. And old. But they are so warm that I won’t get rid of them. I knew my feet might thaw if I could just find those hideous slippers.
I got up from the couch, glanced around our family room and looked under the coffee table. I headed through the kitchen and then peeked in the bathroom to see if I’d left them there when I took my shower. No slippers.
I looked in the closet (where they should have been), trudged into my office to see if I’d left them under the desk and then headed upstairs to see if they were up there somewhere. I traipsed back down through the dining room to see if I’d left them under the table when I’d worked on the tax papers.
No slippers anywhere.
And then as I looked in the family room from a new vantage point, I realized something: I’d literally stepped over my slippers when I got up from the couch. They were right there…but I wasn’t paying attention.
That’s when the thought crossed my mind: Isn’t that exactly what we do with our spiritual lives?
We encounter problems and we say, “Where are You, God?” We search for answers to situations we can’t fix. We look for comfort or peace. We stress when we need guidance for troubling circumstances. We wring our hands. We whine and cry.
We search everywhere…except the one place where we should start all our searches—in His Word. Just like my slippers were right where I’d left them, God is right where we left Him as well. He hasn’t gone anywhere, but sometimes the problem is that we have walked away from Him.
Have you been looking for what’s right there in front of you? Slip into His Word today and feel the warmth seep into your soul.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5)
