What’s Lost Will Always Be Found

Lately, God has placed me in a position I had hoped to never be in. One where I can see the hurt of people I love, feel their distance from God, sense their wrestling, yet be completely unable to change their situation.

As someone who naturally wants to fix, protect, guide, and control, it breaks my heart. I can see the pain. I can see the wandering. I can see the longing for the Creator, even if they don’t realize that’s what they’re longing for. And yet… I can’t step in and make them choose healing, or hope, or Him.

Maybe you’re there too. Maybe you’re the one hurting so deeply that turning to God feels impossible. Maybe the pain feels safer to numb than to surrender. If that’s you, hear this:

You are never too lost to be found.

You could be standing in the deepest wilderness, miles from where you used to be, but God knows exactly where you are. He has never stopped searching. He has never stopped calling. And He will come running the moment you ask Him to intervene.

Or maybe you’re watching someone you love wander. If that’s the case, the same truth stands: they are never too far gone for God to rescue.

Your role may not be to change them but to intercede for them on your knees, hands lifted, heart surrendered. Sometimes people are so lost they don’t know how to pray for themselves… but your prayers can lift their name straight to the throne of grace.

As I prayed about this message, God led me to two stories: first, the story of the Lost Sheep, and then the story of the Prodigal Son.

In the story of the Prodigal Son, Jesus says:

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”

(Luke 15:20)

What a picture of the Father’s heart.

He doesn’t stand on the porch with his arms crossed. He doesn’t shame. He doesn’t withdraw. He runs. That means He was watching the road. Every day. Every moment. Hoping. Waiting. Longing. When the lost son turned back, Grace sprinted toward him.

In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus tells of a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep safely on the path to go after the one that wandered. When he finds it, he celebrates more over the one who was lost than the ninety-nine who stayed.

Why? Not because he loved the ninety-nine any less, but because something that could have been gone forever was found. That is the heart of God, relentless, pursuing, rejoicing love for the lost one who turns back.

Whether it’s you or someone you love, God responds the same way: He runs. He embraces. He restores. He is overjoyed when the one who wandered chooses to come home.

One thing walking with God has taught me is this:

The lost can always be found, but only if they want to be. God will not force you home. He will not forcefully drag you out of your sin or your numbing or your distractions. He has given you free will for a reason.

And this is where many hearts get trapped in the belief that it’s okay to keep feeding the flesh because “God will forgive me later.” But friend, that mindset is dangerous. The more you feed the flesh, the quieter your desire for home becomes. Sin doesn’t stay small. It grows, and it blinds, and it numbs the very longing that would pull you back to God.

So choose Jesus today.

Not because you’ve always gotten it right.

Not because you’re strong enough.

But because He is not mad at you. Because heaven throws a celebration when a wandering heart finally whispers, “Father, I want to come home.”

What’s lost will always be found, and if you’re ready to be found, God is already running.