Tell me where you lost the presence of Christ, and I will tell you the most likely place to find Him again. Did you lose Christ in your prayer closet by neglecting prayer? Then it is there you must return and seek Him. Did you lose Christ through sin? You will not find Him again except by forsaking that sin and, through the help of the Holy Spirit, putting to death the desire in which that sin lives. Did you lose Christ by neglecting the Scriptures? Then it is in the Scriptures that you must seek Him.
There is an old saying that is very true: look for what you lost where you lost it. So seek Christ where you last left Him, for He has not wandered away without cause. Yet going back for Christ is often hard work. Bunyan reminds us that when the pilgrim returned to the Arbor of Ease to recover the roll he had lost, that stretch of road was the most difficult he ever traveled. It is easier to go many miles forward than to go even one mile back to regain lost assurance.
Therefore, when you find your Lord again, cling tightly to Him. But pause and ask yourself: how did you lose Him in the first place? It seems unthinkable that you would part with such a precious Friend—One whose presence is so sweet, whose words are so comforting, and whose companionship brings such joy. How could you fail to watch Him carefully, knowing how easily His sensible presence may be lost?
Yet since you have lost Him, what mercy it is that you are still seeking Him, even while your heart cries, “Oh, that I knew where I might find Him!” Keep seeking, for it is dangerous to live without your Lord. Without Christ you are like a sheep without a shepherd, a tree without water at its roots, a dry leaf caught in a storm—no longer fastened to the tree of life.
Seek Him with your whole heart, and He will surely be found by you. Give yourself fully to the search, and you will yet discover Him again—to your deep joy and lasting gladness.