Lost in Your Own House

Luke 15:8 (CEB) · The Gospel on Stage and Screen

“...won’t light a lamp and sweep the house, searching her home carefully until she finds it?” — Luke 15:8b (CEB)

The coin was lost inside the house. Not out in the wilderness, not stolen by a stranger, lost right there among familiar walls. That might be the most unsettling kind of lost there is. You show up to work, sit at the table for dinner, answer when someone calls your name. But somewhere inside, something essential has slipped out of place.

You’re present and missing at the same time. Your phone is on do-not-disturb and so is your heart. You’re surrounded by people who love you, and you still feel unreachable.

The woman doesn’t give up because the coin is somewhere in the house. She lights a lamp. She sweeps every corner. She refuses to accept that something precious can stay lost in its own home.

Neither does God.

God of every hidden corner, you search for me even when I am lost in familiar places. Break through my silence and sweep me back into your light. Amen.