The Joy of Being Found

The Joy of Being Found
by Pastor Brenda Legred

My nieces and nephews loved to play hide and seek. They could never get enough of it. “Let’s play again – just one more time!” I asked them why they liked the game so much. Now I would have expected them to say that it’s fun to hide. Instead they said, “Because it’s so exciting to be found!”

The Bible tells us the story of a shepherd who goes in search of a lone, lost sheep. Scripture tells us that heaven rejoices when this sheep is found. I imagine the lone sheep was glad too.

About 30 years ago, I was stranded in the Superior National Forest in a horrible snowstorm. My car was stuck and I had tried to walk as far as I could, but I just couldn’t make it in the storm. This happened before there were cell phones; at least I didn’t have one yet. So I went back to my car and waited there for about 9 hours. A pastor had suggested I take the road I was on as a shortcut. Later I learned that he was new in town and didn’t know the road was closed in the winter. Anyway, no cars went by. I was going to conserve my malted milk balls, but I ate them in the first 10 minutes. When a day had passed, I got out of the car, got down on my knees in the snow and prayed that God would rescue me.

After a few hours, a massive truck came through the woods. Two men who I remember were really good-looking, tall and broad-shouldered, said they were Canadian Mounted Police and gave me their business cards. Rod and Bob tied a rope to my car and towed me to the nearest highway. When I returned to Minneapolis, I called the office number on their business cards so I could thank them. The staff member said,

“We have never had mounted police with those names.” Angels? I believe they were either angels or angelic humans. Some people have said they may have been dangerous people and that I was fortunate. Either way, it was good to be found.

As a community in Christ, we rejoice in being found by the God who considered us so beautiful, so potentially authentic and faithful, that we were worth living in the world and dying for. Amazing grace!