By Chris Surber

I wonder how long something has to be misplaced before it crosses the line into being lost.

I once misplaced my driver’s license, didn’t find it for a month, and then — a day after ordering a new one — I found the old one. Then I lost the new one in a swamp the day after it arrived. It sure was a good thing I had found the first one.

I’d give you more details, but I’d rather not relive the episode…

Sometimes something we can’t find isn’t lost. It exists within the scope of our possession, even though we can’t grasp it. It’s like when we lose a television remote in our house. It always turns up, usually by accident.

It’s a nagging feeling though — being aware you possess something but knowing you can’t grasp it right now. I wonder if it is a similar feeling that leads so many today to be depressed, disillusioned and disappointed.

I lived with that feeling for a long time. I was looking for something but didn’t know what the something was. I felt as though something was misplaced. I knew I possessed it, but I couldn’t find it. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I was certain I needed it.

One day, when I was utterly disappointed with the world and my place in it, I took a look deep inside my heart and stumbled upon something that had been there, misplaced, all along.

It was my heart’s cry. I don’t know how else to explain it. It was the missing piece of my life. Up to that point I had lived basically for pleasure, prestige and promotion.

That’s it. That’s what I cared about, and I was good at getting it. I was a Christian believer but not really a follower of Jesus. I was a passionate person, but only in pursuits that pleased me. I was a good person, but mostly because of what I got out of it.

Then one day I found my heart’s cry. I found that my pure passion in life wasn’t to better my life but to give my life away. God opened my eyes to see what He had put inside me from the beginning. I found my heart’s cry in glorifying Him by giving my life away in the service of others, and it changed everything.

What you’re looking for may not be lost, but merely misplaced, and it probably is right at the center of your own heart. Our destinies are in the hands of God. The seeds of our destinies are planted by God in our hearts. For them to bear fruit we just need to the courage to look for them.

“You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.” (Proverbs 19:21 NLT)

Chris Surber is pastor of Cypress Chapel Christian Church in Suffolk. Visit his website at www.chrissurber.com.