It’s here somewhere

Bob and I have an ongoing joke between us: when he can’t find something, it’s my fault.  You know, I’ve put it somewhere, his shoes, his biking shorts, whatever.  I love it when he finds something that would not even have my fingerprints on it if checked. 

He likes to leave things laying around in certain places, and I like to scoop them up and put them somewhere when cleaning house (which is rare).  He is meticulous, shoes always side by side with the shoestrings tucked neatly inside.  I’m doing well to find my shoes.  He says I have “places for everything and everything in its places”.

And we’re still married after all these years.

Last night, it was his book.  It was one of those, “Dawn-where-did-you-put-my…?” moments.  I stopped what I was doing (yes, I really did) to help him look.  After all, it’s entirely possible that I may be the culprit.

Of course, neither of us found it.  Yet.  But then, I’m writing this in early August, and neither of us has fully unpacked our boxes brought home after retiring from our offices at the beginning of summer.  Oh, the surprises that await us.

Nevertheless, it is frustrating (at the very least) to look for something where it should be and it not be there.  It means the function of that missing thing is thwarted, and something of lesser efficacy might be used in its place, which can also prove dangerous.  (Ever try using a table knife instead of a screwdriver?)  It means wasted time looking for something, time that could have been spent more productively. 

King Josiah may have had a sense of this during his reign in Jerusalem:

“Put the holy Ark in the Temple that was built by Solomon son of David, the king of Israel.”

Good grief, where it been?  Evidently, we don’t really know for sure.  A lot of things happened between the reign of Solomon and Josiah.  Idolatry was rampant, and all that follows on its heels.  At some point, the Ark of the Covenant, representing the very presence and throne of God Almighty, was evicted from its rightful place—the temple. 

Interestingly, it wasn’t destroyed.  Just kicked out.  It was still around, just not in where it was designed to be.

Which is exactly what we tend to do with God every day, even Christians, especially as Christians.  And we know better.

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price…

When we boot God out of His rightful place by any kind of idol, (offense, selfishness, personal habits, even fear), it’s to that idol we will default whether we know it or not.  And like using the wrong tool, both ineffective and dangerous—to myself and others.

God hasn’t left, but like the gentleman He is, He’s waiting to be put back in His rightful place.  He isn’t lost, but waits patiently for us to find Him.  And He makes Himself readily available.

Unlike my husband’s book.  (It’s gotta be around here somewhere.)

2 Chronicles 35:3; 1 Corinthians 6:19,20 Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.