He reached out for me. Daily Devotional - March 1, 2010

Daily Bible Reading: Exodus 12, Luke 15, Job 30, 1 Corinthians 16

One Friday afternoon about a week before my 17th birthday I received a call saying that my mother had disappeared. My parents were divorced and I lived with my Dad at the time. I wasn’t worried because I assumed that she must have gotten tired of her boyfriend and decided to get away for the weekend. Monday rolled around and my grandmother had finally heard from her. There was a message on her answering machine saying that she had been kidnaped and the man had her in a hotel and was burning her with acid.

The police caught up with them and at that point he had her in a stolen Jeep. The man who had her decided to flee from the cops, driving at speeds of 80-90mph. To this day, we do not know if she was pushed, she fell or she jumped out of the moving vehicle, but she died in surgery that day. This month it will have been 11 years since she passed.

The first time I ever prayed was seated at kitchen table wondering if God was real, hysterically crying and confused about where my mother was at that moment. I prayed a simple but heartfelt prayer asking that if God was real if he would show himself to me and show me that everything was going to be okay. At the very moment that I prayed, my Dad walked in with a pink card. He tossed it in front of me at the table and apologized that he had forgotten to bring it to me sooner. It had no return address on it, but when I opened it I quickly realized it was from my mother. It was a Valentines card that had been sitting in his office for over a month. It read, "I know we don’t always see things eye to eye, but we always see them heart to heart. I will always love you and I am so proud of you. You’re my little lamb. Love, Mom."

From that moment on I knew that God was real and that he loved me enough to show up when I needed him the most. I was lost, confused, broken and desperate and God’s presence touched me in a tangible way. People can argue with me about the Bible or apologetics, but one thing they can never argue with me about is that special moment when He reached into my life and heart.

Luke 15 is full of stories that remind us of the love and passion that God has for reaching the lost.
The Shepherd leaves his 99 other sheep to go save the one, the woman with the lost coin searches high and low to find her coin and rejoices greatly when she finds it. Last but not least, the amazing story of the Prodigal son who squandered his inheritance and came home in shame only to be embraced by his forgiving father. I would encourage you to read this chapter to be reminded of the loving God we serve and the heart he has for people like me who were looking for answers and desperate for Him.

Thanks for reading,
Mel