Today, almost three years after it went missing, investigators have called off the search for Malaysian Airlines Flight 370.

Here’s what a joint statement from the three governments conducting the search had to say:

“Despite every effort using the best science available, cutting edge technology, as well as modeling and advice from highly skilled professionals who are the best in their field, unfortunately, the search has not been able to locate the aircraft,”  –http://www.cnn.com

There may come a day when someone finds the wreckage of that plane, out there in the ocean, but that’s little solace for the loved ones still wondering what happened.

It reminds me of other difficult searches people undergo.  Most notably, the search for God.

There may be circumstantial evidence–like debris washed up on the shore–but pinning down definitive proof of God continues to elude us.

In cities and villages, on college campuses and even in our local churches, there are many who have been searching, searching to no avail.

And so, many have called off the search.  If there is a God, the proof remains murky, down in the depths where it cannot be found.

There’s a problem with giving up the search for God, and it this:

It presupposes that God is the One who is lost or hiding.

And that’s not true.

God is not lost.  We are lost.

God is, in fact, searching desperately for us.  Longing to bridge the gap between God’s powerful Grace and our stubborn hearts.

God is near.  Close as our next breath. Obscured from view by sin and fear and doubt and anger and shame and even the coldness of our logic.

People are like Malaysia Airlines flight 370.  Lost, hidden, damaged. Desperate to be rescued but broken and silent.

Ah, but unlike that aircraft, we have a locator beacon that works, if we choose to use it.

It’s called faith.

Faith is a steady, spiritual “ping” that cuts through the layers of murk that separate us from God. Faith signals our desire to be found. Delivered.

For some, it may take years to tune that beacon in to the frequency of God’s Grace.

I know this because I once was lost, but now am found.

I know this because faith is a spiritual muscle that must be strengthened and developed.

I know this because millions and millions have been pulled from the oceans of chaos by our powerful Rescuer.

God will never call off the search.

Nor should we. Keep looking. Keep pinging.

It may not happen today.  It may not happen tomorrow.  But it will happen.

A light in the depths will surround you.

And you will know.

Have a great week,

Mitch