Question for you,
Do you ever remember getting lost as a child? Have you ever lost track of a child?
What was the search like? What were the emotions of being found or finding them?
Last year I was sitting in the living room with my wife and in-laws when a knock came at the door. It was our neighbor from around the corner, barely holding herself together, desperately asking if we had seen her 3 year old son.
We hadn’t. No one had.
⚡️ F5 Fast Files - Short Summary
God is not passive
Being lost is not a disqualification
Relentless love works for us too
📣 Shoutout today goes to Kirt Keeler for his passion and energy as a teacher! The school system would be a very different place for boys (for all kids!) if more teachers showed up like him. (Yes, he’s in the story below, sorta 😉)
The Search Begins
We searched our backyard first. Nothing.
Then we searched the surrounding yards, streets, driveways. Still Nothing.
By 8:00pm the entire neighborhood was outside.
By 8:30pm police cars filled the streets.
By 9:15pm officers were preparing dogs and drones.
The boy was non-verbal and autistic, so calling his name didn’t help.
The Moment of Realization
Where were the Keelers?! Our kind neighbors hadn’t joined the search yet.
My wife and I realized it at the same time. We should check their house. She dashed through their side gate. I went straight through their front door with the boy’s father in tow. We turned the corner to the kitchen and froze.
An open fridge.
A smashed carton of eggs.
Three dogs painted yolk-yellow, cowering in the corner.
And a 3 year old in dinosaur pajamas, sitting atop the kitchen table with a full mixing bowl. Haha!
❤️ Reunited
The relief. the tears. The father. The child.
Headlights, squealing tires, sprint. The mother.
The cheers. The joy. The gratitude. The reuniting.
🐑 A God Who Searches
Scripture is filled with this same concept:
A woman tearing apart her home for a lost coin
A shepherd leaving the ninety-nine to find one lost sheep
A father who, seeing his son “yet a great way off”, runs to him
Sometimes in emphasizing agency, our own ability to get lost or to turn back, we forget something crucial: God is not passive.
He is searching, pursuing, moving toward us at every opportunity.
God is in RELENTLESS pursuit of You.
So whether you’re “yet afar off” or already at the gate, covered in pig slop (or egg yolk), dressed in fine royal robes or dino PJs you are wanted.
The tears. The run. The cheers. The joy. The Father. The child.
We can learn to be like God by also loving our lost ones, relentlessly.
🎯 An Invitation
Who in your life might feel lost right now?
Where might you have mistaken passivity for patience?
What would Relentless Love look like in action this week?
Like God, be relentless.
Justin & Jared
F5 Brotherhood
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