My church hosted a 3 on 3 basketball tournament at our local recreation center over the weekend.
There was a great turnout, and it was fun to see the young folks competing and laughing. Several people shared their testimonies. Jesus, the Good Shepherd who goes looking for lost sheep, was doing just that on Saturday afternoon.
I was helping in the kitchen, mixing kool-aid and handing out cookies. I had gotten there late because a young woman had gone missing near my house, and we had helped to look for her. We had been seeking a lost person physically, but those at the rec center event were searching for lost people spiritually.
One of the children at the event ran into the rec center kitchen and hurriedly whispered to me that there was a baby wandering alone outside.
I followed her out, and there stood a little one I know, dressed only in a dirty pamper. I scooped her up and took her in. We wrapped her in a blanket, and I took her home to my house to bathe and find some clothes.
The little one had wandered a half mile, past houses and dogs, across roads and a playground, past the football field and the school, until she reached the rec center parking lot. No one even knew to look for her because no one knew she was missing.
As I drove into my driveway, I could see the planes and drones and people still looking for the young woman who was known to be missing.
As I washed the little one in my care, I thought about the many young people at the rec center who are lost even as they laugh and eat cookies and play basketball.
No one knows they are missing. No one considers them lost except for the Christians sharing their testimonies through the loud speakers. The Christian believers know what it is like to be cold and alone, lost without hope, confused and hurt. They also know what it is like to be found.
We sing the familiar hymn because we know the depths of its truth:
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now, I’m found!
Was blind, but now I see!
If only more of our community members would know what it is like to be found by Christ before they are truly lost! If only parents would trust the counsel Jesus gives for parenting, how many little ones would be spared the hurt and pain they experience! If only more ears would listen to the loving call of the Good Shepherd, there would be less wailing over lost ones unrecovered and more rejoicing that they have been redeemed.
Jesus is seeking you. He offers comfort, real help, and His presence. Don’t choose to stay lost. Come to the Light and be found.
Then you can help us search for others- even before they are lost.
*This article was published in the Nov. 6, 2025 edition of the Devils Lake Journal.
Sarah Dixon Young 