We've been remodeling and updating our house. We are one hundred percent do-it-yourself weekend warriors, so after more than a year of hard work we are only part way to being finished. The process is both tiring and rewarding. Some days things go smoothly and we make a lot of progress. Other days with tired bodies and short tempers, it seems like we have more setbacks than progress.
It was one of those weekends when things didn't go as well as we would have liked. Hubby installed a new wider front door, replaced some rotted subflooring, moved the doorbell, relocated the porch light, ran more wiring, and installed a second light. It turned out to be a bigger, more complicated job than it sounds and it took a lot more time than we had planned.
Here is a picture of the doorbell. It's one of those that has a built-in camera at the top, and a tiny screw at the very bottom.
Friday evening, almost dusk, the little screw had to be removed in order to relocate the doorbell, and then it had to be replaced once the doorbell was in it's new location. Hubby was tired, his hands are large and muscular, his eyesight isn't what it used to be and... I think you know where this is going.
The next day's work included working on the porch lights. Wouldn't you know? Those suckers have some pretty small parts as well, and as they say, history repeats itself.
When Hubby was trying to screw it onto the very small bolt on the light fixture, ...
I think you now where this is going.
It landed...
Now being the good helpful wife that I try to be, I hurried down from the porch and dropped to my knees ready to search for the little black nut. Hubby barked something about not wasting my time because I would never be able to find it. Silently I thought to myself, "No, I'll never be able to find it. But I know the Finder of the lost personally and He knows exactly where it is." So since I was already on my knees, I said one of my "Lord please show me where it is" prayers. I've come to pray those prayers expectantly, knowing full well He will open my eyes to see the lost item. And sure enough...
Our new lights are up and working without any missing parts or pieces.
Hubby was surprised and maybe even a bit shocked at my finding the tiny thing among the dirt, rocks and leaves. He even turned a little snarky when he told me that maybe I should look for the screw he dropped the evening before.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
With supercharged faith I went around to the other side of the porch, dropped to my knees and whispered, "Father, please show me where the screw is."
Now just in case you have ever wondered if God is a faithful friend, finder of the lost, and just down right fun, the answer is YES! Yes He is. It only took a couple of minutes and a little bit of moving dirt for the screw to be found and placed in hubby's hand.
I cried because, like the screw, I was once lost. I didn't find my way out of darkness, dirt and trash all by myself. No. I was found by the Finder of the lost. And I was placed in the hand of the Father, just like this tiny, seemingly insignificant screw. And there, in His hand I will stay.
"My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish--ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one." --John 10: 27-30