The last place you look

 

You know the saying - you always find things in the last place you look.

Kind of an odd saying, isn't it?  After all - if you've found "it" - whatever "it" is -
why would you keep looking?

And then there's the song - Looking for love in all the wrong places".

And the words that got this train of thought going - All of my rescuers are gone, long gone.

What does it all mean?  
Glad you asked.  Keep reading to find out.

I was listening to my iPod (I know - it's old technology.  But it's in my car - always plugged into the power outlet so the dead battery doesn't matter - and it works!  So I have no reason to look for something else to replace it.  Anyway - All of my rescuers are gone, long gone.  It's from a song called Hazard, by Richard Marx.

The first verse goes like this -

My mother came to Hazard when I was just seven
Even then the folks in town said with prejudiced eyes
That boy's not right
Three years ago when I came to know Mary
First time that someone looked beyond the rumors and the lies
And saw the man inside

So apparently what people see on the outside doesn't match what's on the inside.
Not so good if one's looking for something.

As the song goes on - Mary gets killed - and everyone thinks this boy did it.

And the lyrics continue -

I think about my life gone by
And how it's done me wrong
There's no escape for me this time
All of my rescues are gone, long gone

So now the boy's looking for something - or rather someone - a rescuer.
And his life's all messed up -
and there's no escape from paying the penalty for that messed up life,
even if the price is to be paid for something he didn't actually do.
He's done enough other wrong things that he gets blamed anyway.

 

Which brings us to looking for love in all the wrong places.

For this one - just the title is enough.  No lyrics needed.

Let's just change one thing.

Make that Looking for Love in all the wrong places.

Did you catch that - Love instead of love.

Looking for love is looking for a person.

Looking for Love is looking for God.

Let's compare that with All my rescuers are gone, long gone.  
If he's looking for people to rescue him - yes - they're long gone.
However - were he to look for God to rescue him - God's not long gone - not even gone - but right there waiting for the boy to ask to be rescued.
But he's looking for a person - not looking for God - so he doesn't ask God to rescue him.

And there's the problem with looking for love in all the wrong places.

First of all - it's looking for the wrong thing.  Looking for a person, not God.

Second - if you're looking for the wrong thing - chances are you really are looking for love in all the wrong places.
The chances of finding something / someone when looking in the wrong places are slim and none.  And Slim's not home.

Having said that -
God - Love - can be found everywhere.  If we really want to see Him.
Look at the sequence I just went through.

I heard the song Hazard - with All of my rescuers are gone, long gone.
Which led me to looking for love in all the wrong places.

Which, in turn, led me to the saying you always find things in the last place you look.

Maybe because I actually do look for God everywhere - I can see Him - or rather He shows Himself to me.

But remember the comment I made about 

Kind of an odd saying, isn't it? After all - if you've found "it" - whatever "it" is -
why would you keep looking?

He found me - I found Him.
But I haven't stopped looking.
In fact - if anything - I'm looking more than ever.
And He's showing Himself more than ever.

Let's check out just a few verses to see how this all works -

First of all, from Genesis 49:18, where Jacob is blessing his sons.  As part of that blessing he says -

Ge 49:18 “I look for your deliverance, O LORD.

Looking for deliverance.  Looking for a rescuer.  Looking for Love.  In the right place.  
And he's talking about the future here - not just looking once, finding it and stopping there.

And remember where I said - He found me - I found Him.
In Leviticus, we see God telling His people -