Lost and Found

"I once was lost, but now am found." Words from an old song, familiar to many of us, one of the most often recorded spiritual songs in the secular catalog, "Amazing Grace".
A few years ago, while driving across the Mojave Desert in California (which becomes the Mohave Desert in Arizona), late on a moonless night, I heard a news bulletin on the radio. Two children, ages three and five, were lost on the desert. They had last been seen in light cotton clothes, barefoot. It was a winter night with that signature high desert bitter cold. I wondered what those two precious little children could be doing out there alone. I whispered a prayer for them. "O Lord, You know where they are. Protect them from the cold, their little feet from the cactus thorns. Keep them safe from the marauders, and also from all the desert scurriers that bite, stick and sting. Send Your angels to surround them and let them know deep in their little hearts that they are not alone and that You are with them."
Several hours later, I heard that they had been found, unharmed, not far from a rest stop outside Barstow. What a miracle!
The desert, not unlike our world, is an unfriendly place. A friend of mine, a desert guide, states that there is no such thing as "Desert Survival", only "Desert Preparedness". You take with you a compass, protective covering, shelter, and of course, plenty of water. You always let someone know where you are going and when you expect to return.
As you travel through life, do you feel lost? Are you barefoot in the cold of an uncaring society, walking on the thorny ground of despair, deceit, disbelief? Are you surrounded by the marauders of chaos, confusion, crime, and by all the pain...physical, emotional, spiritual...that bites, sticks and stings? Know that there is a compass, there is protective covering, a shelter, and water for you. The Compass is the Bible, the Inspired Word of God. The Protective Covering is the Blood of Jesus Christ., shed for you on the Cross. The Shelter is God's Love for you. The Water is the Living Water of Life, given to you by God as a Gift, and symbolized in Baptism. Know that WITH God and IN God you are never alone. His angels hover over you, in His Protection for you.
Remember this: God's Hand is reaching down for yours.
Reach up and take it.
Reach up.