Get So Lost That You Are Found

Recently I started reading a book called "Rediscover Jesus" because... well, because I've really been feeling my need to literally rediscover Him. Plus it was written by one of my favorite authors, Matthew Kelly.

The book kept staring at me each time I'd pass by the stack of books it was nestled among in the corner of my room. I had chosen to ignore it day after day after day for months and months until this week.

NASHVILLE, TN - One day this week, all things aligned just right for me to stop in my tracks as I stared across the room at the book title "Rediscover Jesus."

I stared at the purple cover of the book for a moment. The color alone has great significance in the Church. Purple represents pain, suffering, and penance. It represents humility and great sacrifice. Yet, it also represents royalty.

I stared at the unread story cloaked in a purple cover and recognized my immediate need to Rediscover Jesus - to rediscover him in his pain, in his suffering, in his humility, and more still in his omnipotent royalty and majesty.

I stood across the room from the book and realized the current distance between me and the book mirrored my current pursuit of Jesus - I was standing in the same room as Him (simply because He never leaves us, not because of my effort, or lack of effort), yet I was beginning to ignore His presence in the scuttle and continual change in my life.

My prayer life had gone fairly stagnant again. Why is it such a challenge to make the one thing that matters most a mainstay in my life? I had been allowing too many things to get in the way of He and I. The telltale sign of this disorder began to surface - peace no longer consumed me.

Peace...

If we have peace within our souls we can face anything without being shaken. That doesn't mean we won't feel the effects of what's happening, but peace grounds us and allows us to be calm and steady even in the midst of great storm.

I saw peace when I looked at the book across the room so I walked over, picked it up and flipped immediately to a page containing Matthew 11:28, 2 Corinthians 5:17, and Luke 11:9.

The Scriptures on the page encouraged me to read the prologue, which I am going to share with you because it's so worth sharing.

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ARE YOU JESUS?

Our God is a God of Surprises.

It was the biggest meeting of Paul's life, and it had gone well. He couldn't wait to tell his wife and his boss. As he rushed out of the Brooklyn office building with the rest of the team, they noticed a vacant cab - a rare sight during rush hour.

Eager to get to the airport to catch their flight home, they bolted toward the cab, yelling to get the driver's attention. But as they made their way across the sidewalk they inadvertently knocked over a small produce stand. The rest of the team seemed oblivious until Paul stopped and turned around to go back.

From beside the taxi the others called out to Paul, "Come on, you'll miss your flight."

"Go ahead without me," Paul replied as he made his way back across the street toward the sidewalk covered in produce. At that moment, he realized that the woman who had been behind the produce stand was blind. She was just standing there crying softly with tears running down her face.

"It's Ok, it's OK," Paul said to her as he got down on his hands and knees and began picking up the fruit and vegetables. There were a hundred people passing in each direction, but nobody else stopped to help. They just scurried off to wherever they were going.

When the fruit was all back up on the stand, Paul began neatly organizing it, setting aside anything that was spoiled. Now he turned to the woman and ask, "Are you OK?" She nodded through her tears. Then, reaching for his wallet, he took out some bills and passed them to the woman, saying, "This money should cover the damages."

With that, Paul turned and began to walk away.

"Mister," the woman called after him. Paul paused and turned around. "Are you Jesus?"

"Oh, no," he replied.

The woman nodded and continued, "I only ask because I prayed for Jesus to help me as I heard my fruit falling all over the sidewalk."

Paul turned to leave again, only now his eyes began to fill with tears.

For a long time he wandered around looking for a taxi. After finally finding one, he sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way to the airport. He had missed his flight, and because it was Friday night, all the other flights were full.

Paul spent the night in a hotel by the airport. This gave him time to think. He could't get one question out of his head: When was the last time someone confused you for Jesus?

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Like Paul in this story, I sat holding the book in awe as I was gently urged to ask myself that same question.

When was the last time someone confused me for Jesus? I would assume never in my case, but oh, how I long to be a channel for Him.

What would that be like to lose yourself so much that you were confused as Jesus? What would that be like to live so selflessly and lovingly that you could put others first even if that meant missing your flight home, incurring more expenses, and losing time at home? What an amazing and inspiring display of beauty and radiance it would be to live a life so great that people would confuse you as Jesus, even if just once.

Like the great fisherman He is, Jesus continued to cast His line out into the ocean as He waited for me to choose to go after Him. With this book He lured me in once again. He caught me, hook, line, and sinker and so I sit for just a few minutes a day to read one lesson (one short chapter a day as designed) and slowly I'm being led back to Jesus.

I'm rediscovering Him and also discovering Him in new ways. As I sit with Him, my peace begins to return and I desire to fill myself with Him in other ways too, even if only in streaks or flashes.

I am challenged to look at life just a little bit differently each day as He pursues me through this book.

Will you accept the invitation to be pursued by God as well? Will you say yes to a journey of learning how to somehow, in someway allow yourself to be so consumed in Christ that others could easily confuse you for Jesus?

Think what our world would look like if that was the main goal for me, for you, and for each and every heart on this earth? I think it'd be a much better place. Don't you?

Get so lost in Jesus that others confuse you as Him. Get so lost in Him, that you are found. That's what this world needs, people who are lost in Jesus.

Laughs and Love,

Jackie:-)