I sat down on the mall bench as I watched my daughter go down the end corridor to visit the ladies’ restroom. I had peace in my soul, for we just spent a wonderful afternoon shopping and bonding. Life was good at that very moment as I closed my eyes to rest.
After awhile I became a little concerned when Elisa did not return, so I decided to check on her. For some reason darkness fell over my soul as I went down the dimly lit hallway and spotted a rough looking guy hanging near the restrooms. My imagination ran away with me as I felt him snicker at me as I passed by.
I entered the restroom and to my disbelief my daughter was not there. Terror filled my entire being. I begin calling out her name and running in and out of each stall as my heart began to pound. I ran back into the hallway, which was now void of any people, and began screaming, “ELISA! ELISA! ELISA! WHERE ARE YOU BABY?”.
My piercing screams must have reached the mall personnel office which was on the above floor, because a woman came running down the steps to inquire of me what was wrong.
“My daughter is missing! Help me! My daughter is missing!” I kept repeating.
She immediately seemed distressed as she got her phone out and was about to call security while asking me how old my missing child was. As I sheepishly replied, “27”, the look on this woman’s face changed from one of concern to one of “you’ve got to be kidding me!”. It was just then I spotted the silhouette of my daughter coming toward me. Relief immediately filled my soul, for my missing child was found and my frenzy ended.
Elisa’s brief stop at one of the stores brought horrific pain to my heart. I thought of the worse as I envisioned her stepping into a dangerous situation lacking any kind of protection. And then I recalled how many times I did the same thing.
Over the past four years God has taught me what it means in Psalm 91 to stay hidden in the shadow of the Most High. I use to think that God’s grace acted like a global umbrella over me protecting me from the schemes of the enemy. I believed for many years since I was a child of God, evil could not touch me…I found out otherwise.
Yes, you can wander away from God’s protection, even as a Christian. God says, “You want my shelter? Then stay close to me.” We cannot stray to check out what the world has in store for us and expect God to be right there with us. No, the truth of the matter is, if you let go of God’s hand you will probably get lost, and you are then open to Satan’s attacks.
Yet, God will do everything in His power to draw you back so that He can hold you once again, because that is what a good parent wants…no matter how old you are. Could someone please tell the personnel at the Westwood Mall this?
What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away,
will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?
And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the
ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing
that any of these little ones should be lost. Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:12-14
Founder and Director of Key Ministries located in Lexington South Carolina. You can reach us at keyministries@yahoo.com. .