Lost Things

This week I accidentally left a gift card on the counter at Kroger. Imagine my chagrin when I realized that it was gone, and I mean GONE. What a bummer.

Then I read the story about a guy in New Jersey who bought a lottery ticket and left it behind. (Link below) We both returned to the counter, but his outcome was a "little" different than mine. A good Samaritan had found his tickets and returned them to the cashier. My card has not yet been recovered.

Oh, did I mention that his ticket was a $273 million dollar winner? He was one fortunate “forgetter.” My loss was a "little" less, but still rankling. I am still holding out hope that a good Sam will come through for me.

Aren’t you glad that we do not have to worry about the Lord forgetting us? Isaiah 49:16 reminds us that the Lord has not and will not forget us.
“Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;

Read that again, “...on the palms of His hands.” In full disclosure, the promise is directly to Israel in response to the question of whether God will ever abandon them. Negative. But for Christians, for whom Jesus died, that promise is even more sure. The “marks” on His hands are from the nails that held Him to the cross. Can we ever conceive of an instance when He would not remember us? The answer, in Paul’s favorite negative, is “M`e genoito!” “May it never be!” Absolutely, positively, never, no never in a million, a billion, a trillion years. Or more. Did I say, “No?”

What a comfort that is for us when we feel like a gift card or lottery ticket lying, forgotten, on a counter somewhere. No good Samaritan is needed. He put us there deliberately and has a purpose for it. And He will not only “be back” for us, He is always there.

That oughta get a “Glory!” It did. Glory!

You are not alone. You are not forgotten. Rest in the peace and comfort of that fact. Amen.


Epilog

Three days later I returned to the Kroger store to inquire about the gift card. I have to admit it seemed futile, but why not? The first customer service agent to greet me looked in every drawer in the counter. “Nope, nothing here.”

Then a familiar face emerged from the back room. Guess who? It was the lady who tried to help me the other night and found nothing on the counter. She recognized me. “Oh yes,” she answered the query of the first lady,” it is in the office.” And with that she disappeared bcak into the back room, and a minute later emerged with...TA DA! The card and even the accompanying paper work. It seems that it had fallen behind the cash register and the elevated counter where customers place their articles and, incidentally, sign the receipts that they had received the refund.

I had not suffered a brain lock, or as some kindly call it, “a senior moment.” I had wracked my brain and memory to recall what had happened to it. No wonder I could not retrieve the memory. Somehow, it had slipped between the equipment and the counter while I was signing the receipt. Well, maybe a little slippage occurred in that I did not immediately realize that I did not have it, nor had I put it in my pocket or billfold.

“Hallelujah! Thank you.” What a great person. Honestly, anyone could have taken the card and cashed it. There was no identification marks on it. But, like our lottery friend, a true good Samaritan had recovered it and held it for its rightful owner. She even had the foresight to “put it away” to prevent any temptation on the part of others who might use the desk. Not that Kroger employees are less than honest. For all they knew, it was for $5 and not worth the trouble. But to avoid temptation is never a bad practice.

Thank you, honest Kroger person. May blessings be on you and your house.



https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/i-was-a-bum-in-high-school-maybe-now-ill-be-a-beach-bum-unemployed-handyman-53-wins-dollar273m-mega-millions-jackpot-after-accidentally-leaving-his-lucky-ticket-at-the-store/ar-BBUugHc?OCID=ansmsnnews11