There was only one way to totally describe me. . . I was lost.

Reluctantly, I put away my directional-know-it-all-ism and pulled out the map on my smart phone.   Because the address was still in the search bar, the voice on the phone simply said the magic word, “Re-routing.”

One of Jesus’ famous re-routing stories went like this. . . “Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’  In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

When I was in Israel, a group of 30 of us stood in ruins near the city of Capernaum – perhaps near the place where Jesus told his story.  Most of the buildings had crumbled from an earthquake that happened in 363 AD, but the brick pavers were in remarkably good condition.  While the speaker explained the history of the region, one of the leaders purposely dropped a dime on the paver floor behind our group.

It took the 30 of us nearly 20 minutes before someone in our group found the coin and wow – did we scream and rejoice when we did!   The coin that had been lost was found!

Next time you go to church, look at the people around you and you’ll only see one – just one – universal commonality.  That we all get lost.  We all make wrong turns.

When we realize how lost we are, we get a chance to pull out our true GPS – our “God Positioning System”, and we get another chance to put God first in our lives.

I can only imagine how God must smile and hold our hand as he gently says, “Re-routing.”  He sure helps us find the best route to our ultimate destination.