“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10

I had written about the sorrowful loss of my good chainsaw. Putting it in the bed of my truck, I arrived home only to find the tailgate down and the saw…case and all… gone! Though I drove back over my route, I knew it was a lost cause. Five days later I was relaying the story to a friend. His eyes lit up as he said, “I know where your saw is!”

Diving along the road, my friend, and fellow church member, saw a company truck stop on the road, someone get out and retrieve a chainsaw off the highway. He even remembered the name of the company. I called and visited them, only to find out that the person who had the saw was not currently there, but would call me. I waited. I could not help but think, “this is a strange way for Jesus to reach someone.” I did NOT see it as a coincidence… but rather a divine appointment. God was up to something!

Meeting the man who had the saw was a rushed event, as he was in a hurry to get to work. With about 60 seconds to speak, I simply stated, “God obviousness is trying to reach you… what is going on in your life and how may I pray for you?” He reply was 1 sentence with 2 major cataclysmic events. Then he was gone! I hollered after him, I’ll call you later! And I did.

Oh how much I would love to tell you that we got together, that I shared the Good News with him, he received Christ and his life was immediately changed. But I cannot. I rewarded him with some cash, made offers to possible help and I DID present Christ to him. He took the cash. For now, the bittersweet truth is, all I got back was my chainsaw.

Life is filled with loss. When we are finally found by the Savior, we forget how lost we had been and how long and hard the journey. It is rare that all things change instantly. Some problems took a LONG time to make. They will take a long time to heal as well. The ingredient of ‘time’ is not in my realm of control. All I can do is be available to tell the story of Christ, and pray it through. After all….this is HIS-story. Not mine.

This story is not over! I will be praying, gently nudging and be ever hopeful that the “Tale of the Lost Chainsaw” will be proclaimed in heaven. I pray it will end with Praise to God for his humor and creativity. AND that the final ending will be the spectacular and miraculous way that a particular person was saved forever! But the story is not complete… yet.

God knows my heart. I’d rather have lost a chainsaw and seen someone redeemed than the other way around. But the difficulty in life is the choice! He asked ‘me’ to be available and willing to lose, or be used, in any way He sees fit. REGARDLESS of the outcome! I have said yes. The rest is up to Him. What is He asking of YOU today? Will you obey?