Missing Bible

When we feel there is something missing in our lives; perhaps we are troubled in our spirits or maybe we feel distant from God.  That is the time for us to press on and to diligently seek His face.  We read
in Psalm 77:
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; My soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah
4 You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times.
6 I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search.

God calls us to seek Him, and there are times we sense His presence more than others - perhaps that is a prompt to us to draw closer to Him, to spend more time in His Word, to call out or even cry out for the presence of Almighty God.  There may be times in which we are seeking answers or are in the midst of a crisis - He wants to make Himself known to us in a real way, but we have to realize that He is near, He wants us to discover His wonderful truth so that we can grow in a profound way.

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Proverbs 2 deals with searching God's Word diligently, seeking His truth with determination.  We can
read:
1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you,
2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding;
3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding,
4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God.

Cameron Smith of McKinney, Texas, has served our country in the Army, touring overseas and possessing a number of military patches.  According to Dallas television station, WFAA, Smith had placed the patches on a Bible that his mother had given him a number of months ago.

Perhaps you know what it's like to get children to and from church.  Well, recently, Cameron put his Bible on top of his car while he put his son in the car - and he drove off!  Realizing what he had done, he returned to the church, drove the area perhaps a dozen times, walked it off, retraced his steps, and...nothing.

He told the TV station: "It's irreplaceable so I was desperate to find it," adding, "I was really distraught when I couldn't find it, like feeling really low."

The article said:

The military patches are from his tour in Iraq back in 2008. In the Army, he assisted the chaplain. Cameron said he prayed about the loss of the Bible and patches. He thought it was lost for good.

It continues:

His wife put up a post on the McKinney Cares Facebook page asking for help to find it. Soon after posting it, a resident responded with a NextDoor post asking for the owner of the Bible they found.

"I was nervous the whole time because I was thinking maybe it got rained on and hopefully it's still intact," Cameron said.

But, the good news is that it was intact, "just as he left it on Sunday." The article states, "The woman who found the Bible was happy to return the Bible. They also said they didn't want an special credit for finding it."

Cameron Smith, as the article points out, viewed this as an answer to prayer and said, "There's good people out there who do good things. The world is not so horrible and scary like we hear about..."

That was spoken by someone who has served in our military, and provides a refreshing perspective. 

Because, I think so often, and I'm guilty of this, we look at the discouraging events that occur and sometimes neglect that there are good things that take place.  And, we can be careful to pray about everything and give glory to God when He shows up.

There is some symbolism in this story, and we can consider this:

Is the Bible missing in your life?  Do we sometimes find we "leave God's Word behind," and then discover that we are no longer living according to its principles in some ways?  We can enjoy a complete life by hiding God's Word in our hearts and allowing it to be a lamp to our feet and light to our path. 

And, do we search diligently in God's Word for the answers we need?  Cameron Smith repeatedly retraced steps in order to find this special Bible.  He exercised determination in order to find His Bible.  We can exhibit a similar sort of diligence, studying and meditating on the Word of God in order to find the wisdom that He desires for us to have.