Scripture encouragement: Luke 15:8-10

“Where’s My Wallet?”

My wallet is gone!
Its important contents lost
because I hurried.

What will the cost be
if steps cannot be retraced,
my lost wallet found?

Now that it is gone
I repent of my hurry,
not sure why I rushed.

Will I call my friends,
and say, “Come, rejoice with me?”
Please, God, grant me this!

©Haiku by Robin Lybeck

“… what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Luke 15:8-10

God’s encouragement…

This parable Jesus told his disciples encourages me because it tells of an unexpected heavenly response. I relate to it because I’ve lost things and shared my relief with friends when the object has been found. But I never thought of myself as being lost in heaven due to an unrepentant heart.

To understand that the angels of God have joy when I repent is astonishing! I am someone who has repented over many things. Things I’ve said, things I’ve done, things I wish I hadn’t said or done. I’ve wanted to turn back the clock and make a different choice more times than I can count. But it never occurred to me that my repentance here on earth is transformed to joy for His angels in heaven! This heavenly response lifts some of the weight I feel when I’ve wronged or hurt someone, even as I’m brought to my knees to confess, and then—led by the Holy Spirit—to repent and make amends.

Isaiah 55:9 tells us that “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Repenting on earth brings joy in heaven! We go from being lost to being rejoiced over!

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To learn more about my journey with God, visit these pages: Robin’s Journey for an overview |  my first season: Baptized and Taught  |  my second season: Loss & Lost  |  my third season: Pursued & Awakened  |  my fourth season: Welcomed & Transforming |  my fifth season: Proclaiming

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Image: taken from an original oil painting by Tom Lybeck: Where’s My Wallet?

To God alone be all the glory!