Search and Rescue Mission

A Search and Rescue Mission applies when someone is lost or missing and odds are favorable that they can be successfully found and returned.  It becomes a Recovery Mission at the point where survival is unlikely.  When the recovery of the body is all you might expect.  I can neither imagine being the person searched for, being the people searching or being the people waiting for the outcome.

When I was little, I wandered off from my mother in a store.  Actually, I think she walked away and I was too busy looking at something to notice.  I remember the intense fear when I realized that I was alone.  I should have stayed close to my mom's side but, instead, I was distracted and now I was lost.  I stood there frozen in fear.  Afraid to be lost forever, afraid of how mad my mother would be at me, afraid that maybe she just left me.  It was only a few moments until she came racing around the corner with a frantic look on her face.  She hugged me and scolded me at the same time.  And, I was just glad to have her back in my sight.  It was a long time before I let her out of my sight again.  But, I'm sure that eventually, I did.

I was reminded of that today when I read Psalm 139: 23-24.  'Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.'

When it comes to our hearts, we are to regularly call for Search and Rescue Missions.  Just as a child is distracted easily, so are our hearts.  According to Beth Moore "Virtually every external sin results from the internal practice of believing a deceitful heart."  Along the way, we are distracted by the pleasures and pain of the world.  If we are not careful to 'guard our hearts', as we are called to do in Proverbs 4:23, we risk falling into an abyss where we become lost, anxious and alone.

I've been there, multiple times.  In the past, before I was a Christian, I just continued to look for more and more things in this world to fill the void missing in my life.  People, so I wouldn't be lonely.  Alcohol, so I wouldn't feel anxious.  Purpose, so I wouldn't feel lost.  But, it never worked.  At least not for long.  Now that I'm a Christian, I still have those times of feeling lost, anxious and alone.  But, now I know where to turn.  There's only ONE answer.  God has given me my purpose, His Word has soothed my anxiety, His Promise has reminded me that I am never alone.

By grace, we never have to worry about our Search and Rescue becoming a Recovery Mission.  We are never too far gone or too lost to be found and rescued from our sins.  It may be uncomfortable to have your shortcomings pointed out to you.  It may make you cringe to realize you have offended your Father.  You are not alone.  There are so many references in scripture to the failings of the human heart when left to it's own default.  Virtually every person mentioned in the Bible had a heart that wandered from God at one point or another.  The key is realizing that is going to happen and asking God to go on a Search and Rescue Mission in your life.  He will find you and lead you along the path of everlasting life EVERY SINGLE TIME!!