I almost lost my wife the other day … well, I did for a moment or two.

Someone can be right there beside you and then, in a moment, they can be gone. 

There is always that sick feeling with kids when, all of a sudden, things go silent. 

I remember a time when our kids were very young, about 3 and 5. I was at the mall with them shopping for a birthday present for Lily.

I asked a salesperson about a dress I was looking at possibly purchasing, while Karlie and Mike were playing in and around the clothing racks.  

As I was listening to the salesperson tell me about the dress, all of a sudden I realized I didn’t hear my kids. I started looking around and calling their names.  

Immediately panic set in. I excused myself from the conversation with the salesperson and started to take off in one direction. 

This was no ordinary mall I was in. I was at West Edmonton Mall, the largest mall in North America at the time. 

I was literally running past stores with no hint of where they might be. 

Suddenly I just felt like I was going in the wrong direction. I turned around and started running in the other direction, past the store I had been in. 

Then I spotted them. They had stopped and had half turned towards me, with these mischievous grins on their faces. As soon as they saw me running for them, they took off as fast as they could.

I caught them in seconds, hugged them and told them never to do that again. They were oblivious to any danger; it was all fun for them.

Well, yesterday I was in the water at Sauble Beach on Lake Huron. The waves were high – highest I’ve seen in a number of years. 

Lily was with me but slightly behind me. It was difficult to wade out because the waves were so big and coming in so fast. 

I kept trudging through, collapsing to the sandy bottom as the big rollers came crashing on me. 

After a few minutes of this, I turned to say something to Lily. But she wasn’t there. 

I was shocked. She had been right behind me. Where could she have gone? I looked back to our chairs on the beach and couldn’t see her there. 

Then I spied her coming up from a wave about forty yards down from me. 

She made a motion to me like she was going back to shore. Relieved that she was all right, I kept on going. 

A few minutes later I looked to the shore and she wasn’t there. Now what happened? Where could she be?

I started looking around the water again and I spotted her. This time she was about forty yards on the other side of me. 

Apparently the waves were overpowering her and she thought she would try to drift over to me, if she could get out far enough.  

After a little body surfing and being hammered by the waves, we called it a day. I was glad to have her back.

Here’s the thing: We can get lost in our own little world just trying to make it through life, or we can purposely run from God. But God is never far from us. All it takes is for us to turn around and look. If you want to be found by Him, He is there. Run to Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is going on in your life right now that should cause you to turn around and look for God? Leave you comments and questions below.